We analyze Spitzer and Magellan observations of a star-forming core near IRS 2 in the young cluster NGC 2264. The submillimeter source IRAS 12 S1, previously believed to be an intermediate-mass Class 0 object is shown to be a dense collection of embedded, low-mass stars. We argue that this group of stars represents the fragmenting collapse of a dense, turbulent core, using a number of indicators of extreme youth. With reasonable estimates for the velocity dispersion in the group, we estimate a dynamical lifetime of only a few times 10(4) yr. Spectral energy distributions of stars in the core are consistent with Class I or Class 0 assignments. We present observations of an extensive system of molecular hydrogen emission knots. The luminosity of the objects in the core region are consistent with roughly solar mass protostars.

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.

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 O-17-enriched circumstellar stardust grain, silicate and oxide minerals have oxygen isotopic compositions consistent with solar system origin. One refractory grain is O-16-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.

TandEM was proposed as an L-class (large) mission in response to ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 Call, and accepted for further studies, with the goal of exploring Titan and Enceladus. The mission concept is to perform in situ investigations of two worlds tied together by location and properties, whose remarkable natures have been partly revealed by the ongoing Cassini-Huygens mission. These bodies still hold mysteries requiring a complete exploration using a variety of vehicles and instruments. TandEM is an ambitious mission because its targets are two of the most exciting and challenging bodies in the Solar System. It is designed to build on but exceed the scientific and technological accomplishments of the Cassini-Huygens mission, exploring Titan and Enceladus in ways that are not currently possible (full close-up and in situ coverage over long periods of time). In the current mission architecture, TandEM proposes to deliver two medium-sized spacecraft to the Saturnian system. One spacecraft would be an orbiter with a large host of instruments which would perform several Enceladus flybys and deliver penetrators to its surface before going into a dedicated orbit around Titan alone, while the other spacecraft would carry the Titan in situ investigation components, i.e. a hot-air balloon (MontgolfiSre) and possibly several landing probes to be delivered through the atmosphere.

Here we compare new experimental studies with theoretical predictions of equilibrium iron isotopic fractionation among aqueous ferric chloride complexes (Fe(H2O)(6)(3+), FeCl(H2O)(5)(2+), FeCl2(H2O)(4)(+), FeCl3 (H2O)(3), and FeCl4-), using the Fe-Cl-H2O system as a simple, easily-modeled example of the larger variety of iron-ligand compounds, such as chlorides, sulfides, simple organic acids, and siderophores. Isotopic fractionation (Fe-56/Fe-54) among naturally occuring iron-bearing species at Earth surface temperatures (up to similar to 3 parts per thousand) is usually attributed to redox effects in the environment. However, theoretical modeling of reduced isotopic partition functions among iron-bearing species in solution also predicts fractionations of similar magnitude due to non-redox changes in speciation (i.e., ligand bond strength and coordination number). In the present study, fractionations are measured in a series of low pH ([H+] = 5 M) solutions of ferric chloride (total Fe = 0.0749 mol/L) at chlorinities ranging from 0.5 to 5.0 mol/L. Advantage is taken of the unique solubility of FeCl4- in immiscible diethyl ether to create a separate spectator phase, used to monitor changing fractionation in the aqueous solution. Delta Fe-56(aq-eth) = delta Fe-56 (total Fe remaining in aqueous phase)-delta Fe-56 (FeCl4- in ether phase) is determined for each solution via MC-ICPMS analysis.

Stable isotope fractionation amongst phases comprising terrestrial planets and asteroids can be used to elucidate planet-forming processes. To date, the composition of the Earth's core remains largely unknown though cosmochemical and geophysical evidence indicates that elements lighter than iron and nickel must reside there. Silicon is often cited as a light element that could explain the seismic properties of the core. The amount of silicon in the core, if any, can be deduced from the difference in (30)Si/(28)Si between meteorites and terrestrial rocks if the Si isotope fractionation between silicate and Fe-rich metal is known. Recent studies (e.g., [Georg R.B., Halliday A.N., Schauble E.A., Reynolds B.C., 2007. Silicon in the Earth's core. Nature 447 (31), 1102-1106.]; [Fitoussi, C., Bourdon, B., Kleine, T., Oberli, F., Reynolds, B. C., 2009. Si isotope systematics of meteorites and terrestrial peridotites: implications for Mg/Si fractionation in the solar nebula and for Si in the Earth's core. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 287, 77-85.]) showing (sometimes subtle) differences between (30)Si/(28)Si in meteorites and terrestrial rocks suggest that Si missing from terrestrial rocks might be in the core. However, any conclusion based on Earth-meteorite comparisons depends on the veracity of the 30Si/28Si fractionation factor between silicates and metals at appropriate conditions. Here we present the first direct experimental evidence that silicon isotopes are not distributed uniformly between iron metal and rock when equilibrated at high temperatures. High-precision measurements of the silicon isotope ratios in iron-silicon alloy and silicate equilibrated at 1 GPa and 1800 degrees C show that Si in silicate has higher (30)Si/(28)Si than Si in metal, by at least 2.0 parts per thousand. These findings provide an experimental foundation for using isotope ratios of silicon as indicators of terrestrial planet fort-nation processes. They imply that if Si isotope equilibrium existed during segregation of Earth's core-forming metal and silicate mantle, there should be an isotopic signature of Si in the core. Our experiments, combined with previous measurements of Si isotope ratios in meteorites and rocks representing the bulk silicate Earth, suggest that the formation of the Earth's core imparted a high (30)Si/(28)Si signature to the bulk silicate Earth due to dissolution of similar to 6 wt% Si into the early core. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.