Unlocking the Secrets of the Precursor to Our Solar System: The Presolar Nebula

Presolar refers to the pre-solar nebula, which is the cloud of gas and dust that collapsed to form our solar system. The presolar nebula was a vast, rotating disk of material that surrounded the young Sun, and it contained the building blocks of the planets, including the elements that make up our own bodies.

The presolar nebula was likely formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud, which was a vast region of space filled with gas and dust. As the cloud collapsed, it began to spin faster and faster, causing it to flatten into a disk shape. At the center of this disk, the temperature and pressure were so high that nuclear reactions occurred, eventually forming the Sun.

The presolar nebula was composed of a variety of elements, including hydrogen, helium, and heavier elements such as carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. These elements were created in the hearts of stars that had previously exploded as supernovae, and they were carried to our solar system on comets and meteorites.

Presolar materials have been found in meteorites and in the dust that falls to Earth from comets. For example, the Murchison meteorite, which fell in Australia in 1969, contains large amounts of presolar silicon carbide grains, which are thought to have formed in the atmospheres of stars that exploded as supernovae. These grains are believed to have been incorporated into the solar nebula, and they provide a window into the conditions that existed in the early solar system.

Overall, the study of presolar materials provides valuable insights into the formation and evolution of our solar system, and it helps us to understand the origins of the elements that make up our own bodies and the world around us.