Stardust grains recovered from meteorites provide high-precision snapshots of the isotopic composition of the stellar environment in which they formed(1). Attributing their origin to specific types of stars, however, often proves difficult. Intermediate-mass stars of 4-8 solar masses are expected to have contributed a large fraction of meteoritic stardust(2,3). Yet, no grains have been found with the characteristic isotopic compositions expected for such stars(4,5). This is a long-standing puzzle, which points to serious gaps in our understanding of the lifecycle of stars and dust in our Galaxy. Here we show that the increased proton-capture rate of O-17 reported by a recent underground experiment(6) leads to O-17/O-16 isotopic ratios that match those observed in a population of stardust grainsfor proton-burning temperatures of 60-80 MK. These temperatures are achieved at the base of the convective envelope during the late evolution of intermediate-mass stars of 4-8 solar masses(7-9), which reveals them as the most likely site of origin of the grains. This result provides direct evidence that these stars contributed to the dust inventory from which the Solar System formed.

During its four years in orbit around Mercury, the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft's X-ray Spectrometer revealed a large geochemical terrane in the northern hemisphere that hosts the highest Mg/Si, S/Si, Ca/Si, and Fe/Si and lowest Al/Si ratios on the planet. Correlations with low topography, thin crust, and a sharp northern topographic boundary led to the proposal that this high-Mg region is the remnant of an ancient, highly degraded impact basin. Here we use a numerical modeling approach to explore the feasibility of this hypothesis and evaluate the results against multiple mission-wide data sets and resulting maps from MESSENGER. We find that an similar to 3000km diameter impact basin easily exhumes Mg-rich mantle material but that the amount of subsequent modification required to hide basin structure is incompatible with the strength of the geochemical anomaly, which is also present in maps of Gamma Ray and Neutron Spectrometer data. Consequently, the high-Mg region is more likely to be the product of high-temperature volcanism sourced from a chemically heterogeneous mantle than the remains of a large impact event.

Geochemical indicators in meteorites imply that most formed under relatively oxidizing conditions. However, some planetary materials, such as the enstatite chondrites, aubrite achondrites, and Mercury, were produced in reduced nebular environments. Because of large-scale radial nebular mixing, comets and other Kuiper Belt objects likely contain some primitive material related to these reduced planetary bodies. Here, we describe an unusual assemblage in a dust particle from comet 81P/ Wild 2 captured in silica aerogel by the NASA Stardust spacecraft. The bulk of this similar to 20 mu m particle is comprised of an aggregate of nanoparticulate Cr-rich magnetite, containing opaque sub-domains composed of poorly graphitized carbon (PGC). The PGC forms conformal shells around tiny 5-15 nm core grains of Fe carbide. The C, N, and O isotopic compositions of these components are identical within errors to terrestrial standards, indicating a formation inside the solar system. Magnetite compositions are consistent with oxidation of reduced metal, similar to that seen in enstatite chondrites. Similarly, the core-shell structure of the carbide + PGC inclusions suggests a formation via FTT reactions on the surface of metal or carbide grains in warm, reduced regions of the solar nebula. Together, the nanoscale assemblage in the cometary particle is most consistent with the alteration of primary solids condensed from a C-rich, reduced nebular gas. The nanoparticulate components in the cometary particle provide the first direct evidence from comets of reduced, carbon-rich regions that were present in the solar nebula.

All chondrites accreted similar to 3.5 wt.% C in their matrices, the bulk of which was in a macromolecular solvent and acid insoluble organic material (IOM). Similar material to IOM is found in interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) and comets. The IOM accounts for almost all of the C and N in chondrites, and a significant fraction of the H. Chondrites and, to a lesser extent, comets were probably the major sources of volatiles for the Earth and the other terrestrial planets. Hence, IOM was both the major source of Earth's volatiles and a potential source of complex prebiotic molecules.