Open AccessImpact ionization mass spectra of anorthite cosmic dust analogue particles
Author(s) -
Hillier J. K.,
Postberg F.,
Sestak S.,
Srama R.,
Kempf S.,
Trieloff M.,
Sternovsky Z.,
Green S. F.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: planets
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2012je004077
Subject(s) - anorthite , plagioclase , meteorite , feldspar , parent body , mineralogy , pyroxene , geology , physics , astrobiology , olivine , chondrite , paleontology , quartz
Anorthite, the Ca‐rich end‐member of plagioclase feldspar, is a dominant mineral component of the Lunar highlands. Plagioclase feldspar is also found in comets, meteorites and stony asteroids. It is therefore expected to contribute to the population of interplanetary (and circumplanetary) dust grains within the solar system. After coating micron‐ and submicron‐sized grains of Anorthite with a conductive layer of Platinum, the mineral was successfully accelerated to hypervelocity speeds in the Max Planck Institut für Kernphysik's Van de Graaff accelerator. We present impact ionization mass spectra generated following the impacts of anorthite grains with a prototype mass spectrometer (the Large Area Mass Analyser, LAMA) designed for use in space, and discuss the behavior of the spectra with increasing impact energy. Correlation analysis is used to identify the compositions and sources of cations present in the spectra, enabling the identification of several molecular cations (e.g., CaAlO 2 , CaSiO 2 , Ca 2 AlO 3 /CaAlSi 2 O 2 ) which identify anorthite as the progenitor bulk grain material.