Cosmochemistry
With successfully return samples extracted from Moon (Apollo), Ryugu (Hayabusa2), Solar wind (Genesis- not so lucky) and future plans from Bennnu (OSIRIS-ReX), Phobos and Mars (Perseverence capsules), this is an exciting time to be in Cosmochemistry. I am excited that there is so much about our solar system that we can know from these. A lot of work on meteorites, fossil meteorites and micrometeorites is yet to be done that will now become easier with advent of newer technology like enhanced mass spectrometry capabilities. Overall, Planetary Science is abuzz....................
"When asked to write a summary of my professional life, I had no notion of how difficult it would be. There is the form and the substance, the remembrances and the reality, the discipline and the hope, the frustration of not finding a way, and the satisfaction of finding a trail."
--- G. J. Wasserburg
The Lunatic Asylum, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences- Caltech
PhD. (UChicago)
CM chondrites: Evaluation for occurrence of high refractory phases
Indian Planetary Science Conference (2023)
Mukherjee, D. and Ray, D.
In this project, we evaluate the mineralogical and textural components of CM Chondrite: LON 94101. Petrographic evaluation of the CM chondrite thin sections often becomes limiting due to severely altered mineralogical components. Backscattered Electron images using Scanning Electron Microscopy reveals the presence of Al-Diopside as the only refractory phase. Occurence of Planar deformation fabrics has been used to study the shock history of these meteorites. These CM chondrites also offer potential analog to the asteroid returned samples during Ryugu and OSIRIS-REx missions.
