Researchers Trace Dust Grain's Journey Through Newborn Solar System June 21, 2021 Combining atomic-scale sample analysis and models simulating likely conditions in the nascent solar system, a new study reveals clues about the origin of crystals that formed more than 4.5 billion years ago. Read more Image
A Martian Mash Up: Meteorites Tell Story of Mars' Water History March 30, 2020 University of Arizona researchers probed Martian meteorites to reconstruct Mars’ chaotic history. Their findings suggest that Mars might not have had a global magma ocean. Read more Image
NASA Early Career Award to study Volatiles in the Inner Solar System March 17, 2020 Group member Jessica Barnes has been named among six early career scientists to receive the inaugural NASA Early Career Award in Planetary Science. Her proposal entitled ‘Investigating the Origins and Evolution of Volatiles in the Inner Solar System’ was selected for funding. Read more Image
Group member Zoë Wilbur to receive an LPI career development award Feb. 6, 2020 Zoë was named one of 20 students selected to receive a LPI career development award. This monetary award will help Zoë to travel to the 51st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in March. There she will present her preliminary work on the petrology of Apollo 17 Moon rocks. Read more Image
Mysteries Behind Interstellar Buckyballs Finally Answered Nov. 13, 2019 Mimicking conditions thought to exist around dying stars, researchers discovered a mechanism that could explain why planetary nebulae are teeming with complex carbon molecules. Read more Image
Clues to the Processing of Dust around Stars Sept. 27, 2019 In the laboratory, a team of scientists supported in part by the NASA Astrobiology Program have studied simulated presolar grains to better understand how these materials are affected by heat and radiation in space. Read more Image
Ion Beams and Atom Smashers: Secrets of Moon Rocks June 18, 2019 Moon samples collected by the Apollo astronauts a half-century ago hold answers to questions that weren't even on scientists' minds at the time, as new technological tools provide insight into some of the oldest mysteries about the moon, the earth and the Read more Image
Ashes of a Dying Star Hold Clues about Solar System's Birth April 29, 2019 A dust grain forged in a stellar explosion predating our solar system reveals new insights about how stars end their lives and seed the universe with the building blocks of new stars and planets. Read more Image
UA Planetary Scientist Wins Bid to Study Moon Samples March 11, 2019 Incoming assistant professor Jessica Barnes will have the opportunity to study a previously unopened sample of a moon rock that was collected in the early 1970s during NASA's Apollo 17 mission. Read more Image
Stellar Corpse Reveals Clues to Missing Stardust Dec. 19, 2018 The origin of stardust, which makes up most of the matter in our solar system, including us, is more complicated than previously thought, according to new observations of a mysterious object 15,000 light-years from Earth. Read more Image