Henner Busemann

Bio: Henner Busemann is an academic researcher from ETH Zurich. The author has contributed to research in topics: Chondrite & Meteorite. The author has an hindex of 29, co-authored 165 publications receiving 5282 citations. Previous affiliations of Henner Busemann include University of Bern & Carnegie Institution for Science.

Comet 81P/Wild 2 under a microscope.

Abstract: The Stardust spacecraft collected thousands of particles from comet 81P/Wild 2 and returned them to Earth for laboratory study. The preliminary examination of these samples shows that the nonvolatile portion of the comet is an unequilibrated assortment of materials that have both presolar and solar system origin. The comet contains an abundance of silicate grains that are much larger than predictions of interstellar grain models, and many of these are high-temperature minerals that appear to have formed in the inner regions of the solar nebula. Their presence in a comet proves that the formation of the solar system included mixing on the grandest scales.

Organics captured from comet 81P/Wild 2 by the Stardust spacecraft.

Abstract: Organics found in comet 81P/Wild 2 samples show a heterogeneous and unequilibrated distribution in abundance and composition. Some organics are similar, but not identical, to those in interplanetary dust particles and carbonaceous meteorites. A class of aromatic-poor organic material is also present. The organics are rich in oxygen and nitrogen compared with meteoritic organics. Aromatic compounds are present, but the samples tend to be relatively poorer in aromatics than are meteorites and interplanetary dust particles. The presence of deuterium and nitrogen-15 excesses suggest that some organics have an interstellar/protostellar heritage. Although the variable extent of modification of these materials by impact capture is not yet fully constrained, a diverse suite of organic compounds is present and identifiable within the returned samples.

Isotopic Compositions of Cometary Matter Returned by Stardust

Abstract: Hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotopic compositions are heterogeneous among comet 81P/Wild 2 particle fragments; however, extreme isotopic anomalies are rare, indicating that the comet is not a pristine aggregate of presolar materials. Nonterrestrial nitrogen and neon isotope ratios suggest that indigenous organic matter and highly volatile materials were successfully collected. Except for a single 17 O-enriched circumstellar stardust grain, silicate and oxide minerals have oxygen isotopic compositions consistent with solar system origin. One refractory grain is 16 O-enriched, like refractory inclusions in meteorites, suggesting that Wild 2 contains material formed at high temperature in the inner solar system and transported to the Kuiper belt before comet accretion.

Interstellar chemistry recorded in organic matter from primitive meteorites

Abstract: Organic matter in extraterrestrial materials has isotopic anomalies in hydrogen and nitrogen that suggest an origin in the presolar molecular cloud or perhaps in the protoplanetary disk. Interplanetary dust particles are generally regarded as the most primitive solar system matter available, in part because until recently they exhibited the most extreme isotope anomalies. However, we show that hydrogen and nitrogen isotopic compositions in carbonaceous chondrite organic matter reach and even exceed those found in interplanetary dust particles. Hence, both meteorites (originating from the asteroid belt) and interplanetary dust particles (possibly from comets) preserve primitive organics that were a component of the original building blocks of the solar system.

Cross sections for the production of residual nuclides by low- and medium-energy protons from the target elements c, n, o, mg, al, si, ca, ti, v, mn, fe, co, ni, cu, sr, y, zr, nb, ba and au

Abstract: Cross sections for residual nuclide production by p-induced reactions were measured from thresholds up to 2.6 GeV using accelerators at CERN/Geneve, IPN/Orsay, KFA/Julich, LANL/Los Alamos, LNS/Saclay, PSI/Villigen, TSL/Uppsala, LUC/Louvain La Neuve. The target elements C, N, O, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, V, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, Ba and Au were investigated. Residual nuclides were measured by X- and γ-spectrometry and by Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS). The measured cross sections were corrected for interfering secondary particles in experiments with primary proton energies above 200 MeV. Our consistent database covers presently ca 550 nuclear reactions and contains nearly 15000 individual cross sections of which about 10000 are reported here for the first time. They provide a basis for model calculations of the production of cosmogenic nuclides in extraterrestrial matter by solar and galactic cosmic ray protons. They are of importance for many other applications in which medium energy nuclear reactions have to be considered ranging from astrophysics over space and environmental sciences to accelerator technology and accelerator-based nuclear waste transmutation and energy amplification. The experimental data are compared with theoretical ones based on calculations using an INC/E model in form of the HETC/KFA2 code and on the hybrid model of preequilibrium reactions in form of the AREL code.

A low mass for Mars from Jupiter's early gas―driven migration

Abstract: Jupiter and Saturn formed in a few million years from a gas-dominated protoplanetary disk, and were susceptible to gas-driven migration of their orbits on timescales of only approximately 100,000 years. Hydrodynamic simulations show that these giant planets can undergo a two-stage, inward-then-outward, migration. The terrestrial planets finished accreting much later and their characteristics, including Mars' small mass, are best reproduced by starting from a planetesimal disk with an outer edge at about one astronomical unit from the Sun (1 AU is the Earth-Sun distance). Here we report simulations of the early Solar System that show how the inward migration of Jupiter to 1.5 AU, and its subsequent outward migration, lead to a planetesimal disk truncated at 1 AU; the terrestrial planets then form from this disk over the next 30-50 million years, with an Earth/Mars mass ratio consistent with observations. Scattering by Jupiter initially empties but then repopulates the asteroid belt, with inner-belt bodies originating between 1 and 3 AU and outer-belt bodies originating between and beyond the giant planets. This explains the significant compositional differences across the asteroid belt. The key aspect missing from previous models of terrestrial planet formation is the substantial radial migration of the giant planets, which suggests that their behaviour is more similar to that inferred for extrasolar planets than previously thought.

The Growth Mechanisms of Macroscopic Bodies in Protoplanetary Disks

Abstract: The formation of planetesimals, the kilometer-sized planetary precursors, is still a puzzling process. Considerable progress has been made over the past years in the physical description of the first stages of planetesimal formation, owing to extensive laboratory work. This review examines the experimental achievements and puts them into the context of the dust processes in protoplanetary disks. It has become clear that planetesimal formation starts with the growth of fractal dust aggregates, followed by compaction processes. As the dust-aggregate sizes increase, the mean collision velocity also increases, leading to the stalling of the growth and possibly to fragmentation, once the dust aggregates have reached decimeter sizes. A multitude of hypotheses for the further growth have been proposed, such as very sticky materials, secondary collision processes, enhanced growth at the snow line, or cumulative dust effects with gravitational instability. We will also critically review these ideas.

Comet 81P/Wild 2 under a microscope.

Abstract: The Stardust spacecraft collected thousands of particles from comet 81P/Wild 2 and returned them to Earth for laboratory study. The preliminary examination of these samples shows that the nonvolatile portion of the comet is an unequilibrated assortment of materials that have both presolar and solar system origin. The comet contains an abundance of silicate grains that are much larger than predictions of interstellar grain models, and many of these are high-temperature minerals that appear to have formed in the inner regions of the solar nebula. Their presence in a comet proves that the formation of the solar system included mixing on the grandest scales.

The Chemical Composition of Comets—Emerging Taxonomies and Natal Heritage

Abstract: Cometary nuclei contain the least modified material from the formative epoch of our planetary system, and their compositions reflect a range of processes experienced by material prior to its incorporation in the cometary nucleus. Dynamical models suggest that icy bodies in the main cometary reservoirs (Kuiper Belt, Oort Cloud) formed in a range of environments in the protoplanetary disk, and (for the Oort Cloud) even in disks surrounding neighboring stars of the Sun's birth cluster. Photometric and spectroscopic surveys of more than 100 comets have enabled taxonomic groupings based on free radical species and on crystallinity of rocky grains. Since 1985, new surveys have provided emerging taxonomies based on the abundance ratios of primary volatiles. More than 20 primary chemical species are now detected in bright comets. Measurements of nuclear spin ratios (in water, ammonia, and methane) and of isotopic ratios (D/H in water and HCN; 14N/15N in CN and HCN) have provided critical insights on factors affec...