Abstract-Coordinated in situ transmission electron microscopy and isotopic measurements of carbonaceous phases in interplanetary dust particles were performed to determine their origins. Five different types of carbonaceous materials were identified based on their morphology and texture, observed by transmission electron microscopy: globular, vesicular, dirty, spongy, and smooth. Flash heating experiments were performed to explore whether some of these morphologies are the result of atmospheric entry processes. Each of these morphologies was found to have isotopically anomalous H and N. Rare C isotopic anomalies were also observed. The isotopic and morphological properties of several of these phases, particularly the organic globules, are remarkably similar to those observed in other extraterrestrial materials including carbonaceous chondrites, comet 81P ⁄ Wild 2 particles collected by the Stardust spacecraft, and Antarctic micrometeorites, indicating that they were widespread in the early solar system. The ubiquitous nature and the isotopic anomalies of the nanoglobules and some other morphologies strongly suggest that these are very primitive phases. Given that some of the isotopic anomalies (D and 15 N excesses) are indicative of mass fractionation chemical reactions in a very cold environment, and some others ( 13 C and 15 N depletions) have other origins, these carbonaceous phases come from different reservoirs. Whatever their origins, these materials probably reflect the first stages of the evolution of solar system organic matter, having originated in the outermost regions of the protosolar disk and ⁄ or interstellar cold molecular clouds.

Abstract-The solid 2-10 lm samples of comet Wild 2 provide a limited but direct view of the solar nebula solids that accreted to form Jupiter family comets. The samples collected by the Stardust mission are dominated by high-temperature materials that are closely analogous to meteoritic components. These materials include chondrule and CAI-like fragments. Five presolar grains have been discovered, but it is clear that isotopically anomalous presolar grains are only a minor fraction of the comet. Although uncertain, the presolar grain content is perhaps higher than found in chondrites and most interplanetary dust particles. It appears that the majority of the analyzed Wild 2 solids were produced in high-temperature ''rock forming'' environments, and they were then transported past the orbit of Neptune, where they accreted along with ice and organic components to form comet Wild 2. We hypothesize that Wild 2 rocky components are a sample of a ubiquitously distributed flow of nebular solids that was accreted by all bodies including planets and meteorite parent bodies. A primary difference between asteroids and the rocky content of comets is that comets are dominated by this widely distributed component. Asteroids contain this component, but are dominated by locally made materials that give chondrite groups their distinctive properties. Because of the large radial mixing in this scenario, it seems likely that most comets contain a similar mix of rocky materials. If this hypothesis is correct, then properties such as oxygen isotopes and minor element abundances in olivine, should have a wider dispersion than in any chondrite group, and this may be a characteristic property of primitive outer solar system bodies made from widely transported components.

We analyzed 2 ultra-carbonaceous interplanetary dust particles and 2 cometary Wild 2 particles with infrared spectroscopy. We characterized the carrier of the 3.4 µm band in these samples and compared its profile and the CH 2 /CH 3 ratios to the 3.4 µm band in the diffuse interstellar medium (DISM), in the insoluble organic matter (IOM) from 3 primitive meteorites, in asteroid 24 Themis and in the coma of comet 103P/Hartley 2. We found that the 3.4 µm band in both Wild 2 and IDPs is similar, but different from all the other astrophysical environments that we compared to. The 3.4 µm band in IDPs and Wild 2 particles is dominated by CH 2 groups, the peaks are narrower and stronger than in the meteorites, asteroid Themis, and the DISM. Also, the presence of the carbonyl group C=O at ∼1700 cm −1 (5.8 µm) in most of the spectra of our samples, indicates that these aliphatic chains have O bonded to them, which is quite different from astronomical spectra of the DISM. Based on all these observations we conclude that the origin of the carrier of the 3.4 µm band in IDPs and Wild 2 samples is not interstellar, instead, we suggest that the origin lies in the outermost parts of the solar nebula.Subject headings: Wild 2 cometary particles; interplanetary dust particles; 3.4 µm feature

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