Transmission electron microscopy of cometary residues from micron-sized craters in the Stardust Al foils

Abstract

We report transmission electron microscopy (TEM) investigations of micro-craters that originated from hypervelocity impacts of comet 81P/Wild 2 dust particles on the aluminium foil of the Stardust collector. The craters were selected by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and then prepared by focused ion beam (FIB) milling techniques in order to provide electron transparent crosssections for TEM studies. The crater residues contain both amorphous and crystalline materials in varying proportions and compositions. The amorphous component is interpreted as resulting from shock melting during the impact and the crystalline phases as relict minerals. The latter show evidence for shock metamorphism. Based on the residue morphology and the compositional variation, the impacting particles are inferred to have been dominated by mixtures of submicron olivine, pyroxene and Fe sulfide grains, in agreement with prior results of relatively coarse-grained mineral assemblages in the aerogel collector.