In the earliest periods of solar system formation, the protoplanetary disk was a hot environment full of gas and dust. As the disk cooled, various elemental species condensed out of […]
Many planetary materials exhibit distinct isotopic compositions. For example, oxygen isotopic compositions differ among the terrestrial planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. These differences indicate that each planet formed from […]
How did our solar system form and what are the components that ultimately led to the current chemical makeup of our little piece of cosmic real estate? The lyrics “we […]
Various types of meteorites sampled in our meteorite collection display a distinct dichotomy in their chemical and isotopic compositions, suggesting that there was a divide between the inner (terrestrial) and […]
Calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions, CAIs, are light-colored masses in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites — they are the first formed solids in the solar system. Being so old, they provide a unique view into […]
Postdoctoral and Graduate Fellowships. The Department of Mineral Sciences at the Smithsonian Institution – National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) invites applications for both postdoctoral and graduate fellowships. Active areas […]