We have discovered a presolar olivine from ALH 77307 with the highest ^25 Mg isotopic composition measured in a silicate to date ( δ ^25 Mg = 3025.1‰ ± 38.3‰). Its isotopic compositions challenge current stellar models, with modeling of magnesium, silicon, and oxygen showing a closest match to formation in a supernova (SN) where hydrogen ingestion occurred in the pre-SN phase. Presolar grains within primitive astromaterials retain records of processes and environmental changes throughout stellar evolution. However, accessing these records has proved challenging due to the average grain size (∼150 nm) of presolar silicates, their sensitivity to extraction agents, and instrumental restrictions, limiting the range of isotopic and chemical signatures which can be studied per grain volume. Here, we present the first known detailed geochemical study of a presolar silicate from a hydrogen-burning SN, studied in 3D without contributions to the analysis volume and at unprecedented spatial resolutions (<1 nm), essential for constraining physical and chemical processes occurring within this recently proposed stellar environment. From our results, we infer either (i) condensation within an environment depleted of heavy elements compatible with the olivine lattice under the pressure and temperature conditions during condensation, or (ii) during periods of limited mixing either near the end of the pre-SN phase or from a collapse so rapid localized pockets of different gas compositions formed.

The Mighei-like carbonaceous (CM) chondrites have been altered to various extents by water-rock reactions on their parent asteroid(s). This aqueous processing has destroyed much of the primary mineralogy of these meteorites, and the degree of alteration is highly heterogeneous at both the macroscale and nanoscale. Many CM meteorites are also heavily brecciated juxtaposing clasts with different alteration histories. Here we present results from the fine-grained team consortium study of the Winchcombe meteorite, a recent CM chondrite fall that is a breccia and contains eight discrete lithologies that span a range of petrologic subtypes (CM2.0-2.6) that are suspended in a cataclastic matrix. Coordinated multitechnique, multiscale analyses of this breccia reveal substantial heterogeneity in the extent of alteration, even in highly aqueously processed lithologies. Some lithologies exhibit the full range and can comprise nearly unaltered coarse-grained primary components that are found directly alongside other coarse-grained components that have experienced complete pseudomorphic replacement by secondary minerals. The preservation of the complete alteration sequence and pseudomorph textures showing tochilinite-cronstedtite intergrowths are replacing carbonates suggest that CMs may be initially more carbonate rich than previously thought. This heterogeneity in aqueous alteration extent is likely due to a combination of microscale variability in permeability and water/rock ratio generating local microenvironments as has been established previously. Nevertheless, some of the disequilibrium mineral assemblages observed, such as hydrous minerals juxtaposed with surviving phases that are typically more fluid susceptible, can only be reconciled by multiple generations of alteration, disruption, and reaccretion of the CM parent body at the grain scale.

In this study, we investigate the Ar-40/Ar-39 systematics of nineteen diogenites thought to come from deep crustal levels of asteroid 4 Vesta. We applied both Electron Backscattered Diffraction (EBSD) and Ar-40/Ar-39 and methods to the unbrecciated diogenite LAP 031381. We obtained three plateau ages resulting in a combined weighted mean age of 4441 +/- 15 Ma (P = 0.16). The EBSD analyses suggest that LAP 031381 displays minimal evidence of shock and, when combined with petrography observations, diffusion modelling and Ar-40/Ar-39 data, these results suggest that the crustal volume that initially contained this diogenite, reached a temperature of ca. 630 degrees C at similar to 4.44 Ga. This corresponds to a linear cooling rate of similar to 5 degrees C / Ma for a crystallization age of 4550 Ma. Independent thermal models suggest that these conditions were present at a depth of 60 to 65 km at 4.44 Ga.The other eighteen diogenites yielded Ar-40/Ar-39 results that indicate that they have been variously shocked by impact events and seven of them yielded plateau ages ranging from 2413 +/- 189 Ma to 84 +/- 162 Ma. We combined these results with Ar-40/Ar-39 ages from eucrites and howardites and propose that the HED (Howardite, Eucrite, Diogenite) meteorites recorded impact events at the surface of Vesta until similar to 3.4 Ga when they were then ejected during a large collision. The eucrites, diogenites and howardites were then recombined into small rubble pile asteroids which probably make up a large part of the Vestoid family. After ejection, the K/Ar system in plagioclase crystals ceased in most cases to be fully reset by impact events as the temperature spikes reached during small impacts lack enough energy to trigger significant Ar-40* diffusion. On the other hand, ultra-transient and high-temperature - sensitive pyroxene crystals kept a more systematic record of small impacts until recent time. (38)Arc cosmochron cosmogenic exposure ages on diogenites mostly range from 51 +/- 7 Ma to 0 +/- 1 Ma and when combined with other HED cosmochron ages, suggest that almost all the HED meteorites were continuously ejected from secondary rubble pile asteroids mostly between 50 Ma and present.

Over the Nullarbor Plain in South Australia, the Desert Fireball Network detected a fireball on the night of June 1, 2019 (7:30 pm local time), and 6 weeks later recovered a single meteorite (42 g) named Arpu Kuilpu. This meteorite was then distributed to a consortium of collaborating institutions to be measured and analyzed by a number of methodologies including SEM-EDS, EPMA, ICP-MS, gamma-ray spectrometry, ideal gas pycnometry, magnetic susceptibility measurement, mu CT, optical microscopy, and accelerator and noble gas mass spectrometry techniques. These analyses revealed that Arpu Kuilpu is an unbrecciated H5 ordinary chondrite, with minimal weathering (W0-1) and minimal shock (S2). The olivine and pyroxene mineral compositions (in mole%) are Fa: 19.2 +/- 0.2 and Fs: 16.8 +/- 0.2, further supporting the H5 type and class. The measured oxygen isotopes are also consistent with an H chondrite (delta O-17 parts per thousand = 2.904 +/- 0.177; delta O-18 parts per thousand = 4.163 +/- 0.336; Delta O-17 parts per thousand = 0.740 +/- 0.002). Ideal gas pycnometry measured bulk and grain densities of 3.66 +/- 0.02 and 3.77 +/- 0.02 g cm(-3), respectively, yielding a porosity of 3.0% +/- 0.7. The magnetic susceptibility of this meteorite is log chi = 5.16 +/- 0.08. The most recent impact-related heating event experienced by Arpu Kuilpu was measured by Ar-40/Ar-39 chronology to be 4467 +/- 16 Ma, while the cosmic ray exposure age is estimated to be between 6 and 8 Ma. The noble gas isotopes, radionuclides, and fireball observations all indicate that Arpu Kuilpu's meteoroid was quite small (maximum radius of 10 cm, though more likely between 1 and 5 cm). Although this meteorite is a rather ordinary ordinary chondrite, its prior orbit resembled that of a Jupiter Family Comet (JFC) further lending support to the assertion that many cm- to m-sized objects on JFC orbits are asteroidal rather than cometary in origin.

To better understand volcanism on planetary bodies other than the Earth, the quantification of physical processes is needed. Here, the petrogenesis of the achondrite Martian Yamato (Y) nakhlites (Y 000593, Y 000749, and Y 000802) is reinvestigated via quantitative analysis of augite (high‐Ca clinopyroxene) phenocrysts: crystal size distribution (CSD), spatial distribution patterns (SDP), and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). Results from CSD and EBSD quantitative data sets show augite to have continuous uninterrupted growth resulting in calculated minimum magma chamber residence times of either 88–117 ± 6 yr or 9–12 yr. All samples exhibit low‐intensity S‐LS type crystallographic preferred orientation. Directional strain is observed across all samples with intracrystalline misorientation patterns indicative of (100)[001]:(001)[100] (Y 000593 and Y 000802) and {110}<001>or {110} 1 / 2 <110> (Y 000749) slip systems. SDP results indicate phenocryst‐bearing crystal‐clustered rock signatures. Combined findings from this work show that the Yamato nakhlites formed on Mars as individual low‐viscosity lava flows or sills. This study shows that through combining these different quantitative techniques over multiple samples, one can more effectively compare and interpret resulting data to gain a more robust, geologically contextualized petrogenetic understanding of the rock suite being studied. The techniques used in this study should be equally applicable to igneous achondrites from other parent bodies.

Evidence of impact-induced compaction in the carbonaceous chondrites, specifically CMs and CVs, has been widely investigated utilizing microscopy techniques and impact experiments. Here, we use high-resolution photography and large area and high-resolution electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) mapping analyses in tandem, to explore the effects of impact-induced compaction at both the meso- and micro-scales in the Allende CV3.6 carbonaceous chondrite. Macro-scale photography images of a similar to 25 cm slab of Allende captured meso-scale features including calcium-aluminum inclusions (CAIs) and chondrules. CAIs have a long-axis shape-preferred orientation (SPO). Examination of such meso-scale features in thin section revealed the same trend. Matrix grains from this section display a large amount of heterogeneity in petrofabric orientation; microscale, high-resolution, large area EBSD mapping of similar to 300,000 olivine matrix grains; high-resolution large area EBSD map across an elongate CAI; and a series of high-resolution EBSD maps around two chondrules and around the CAI revealed crystallographic preferred orientations (CPOs) in different directions. Finally, internal grains of the CAI were found to demonstrate a weak lineation CPO, the first crystallographic detection of possible CAI "flow." All results are consistent with multiple, gentle impacts on the Allende parent body causing hemispheric compaction. The larger, more resistant components are likely to have been compressed and oriented by earlier impacts, and the matrix region petrofabrics and CAI "flow" likely occurred during subsequent impacts. Meteoritic components respond differently to impact events, and consequently, it is likely that different components would retain evidence of different impact events and angles.

On June 1, 2019, just before 7:30 p.m. local time, the Desert Fireball Network (DFN) detected a -9.3 magnitude fireball over South Australia near the Western Australia border. The event was observed by six fireball observatories, and lasted for 5 s. One station was nearly directly underneath the trajectory, greatly constraining the trajectory solution. This trajectory's backward numerical integrations indicate that the object originated from the outer main belt with a semimajor axis of 2.75 au. A light curve was also extracted and showed that the body experienced very little fragmentation during its atmospheric passage. A search campaign was conducted with several DFN team members and other volunteers. One 42 g fragment was recovered within the predicted fall area based on the dark flight model. Based on measurements of short-lived radionuclides, the fragment was confirmed to be a fresh fall. The meteorite, Arpu Kuilpu, has been classified as an H5 ordinary chondrite. This marks the fifth fall recovered in Australia by the DFN, and the smallest meteoroid (similar or equal to 2 kg) to ever survive entry and be recovered as a meteorite.

Deformation is a near ubiquitous process that is observed within nearly all naturally forming rocks. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) is a technique that enables slip‐systems (a form of plastic deformation) to be inferred from intracrystalline misorientations at a comparable scale to the representative CPO analysis (≥300 crystals for the nakhlites). Extensive laboratory and studies on naturally occurring samples have identified preferential mantle condition extrinsic parameters for specific slip‐system signatures within olivine and clinopyroxene. Intracrystalline misorientation patterns for olivine and augite (high Ca‐clinopyroxene) for 16 different Martian nakhlite meteorites (21 sections) were analyzed and assessed against these known parameters. Investigation of high and low deformation regions within the nakhlites revealed a shift in intracrystalline misorientation patterns for 10 of the 21 sections. Interpreted as both shock (high deformations) and emplacement (low deformation) signatures, the observed variations in deformation patterns for the two main regimes of deformation indicate heterogeneous sampling of the nakhlite source crater. Our findings indicate that shock deformation is prevalent throughout the nakhlites, and that great care needs to be taken when interpreting intracrystalline misorientations of crystals within apparent lower deformation regions.

On June 19, 2020 at 20:05:07 UTC, a fireball lasting 5.5s was observed above Western Australia by three Desert Fireball Network observatories. The meteoroid entered the atmosphere with a speed of 14.00 +/- 0.17 km s(-1) and followed a 58 degrees slope trajectory from a height of 75 km down to 18.6 km. Despite the poor angle of triangulated planes between observatories (29 degrees) and the large distance from the observatories, a well-constrained kilo-size main mass was predicted to have fallen just south of Madura in Western Australia. However, the search area was predicted to be large due to the trajectory uncertainties. Fortunately, the rock was rapidly recovered along the access track during a reconnaissance trip. The 1.072 kg meteorite called Madura Cave was classified as an L5 ordinary chondrite. The calculated orbit is of Aten type (mostly contained within the Earth's orbit), only the second time a meteorite was observed on such an orbit, after Bunburra Rockhole. Dynamical modeling shows that Madura Cave has been in near-Earth space for a very long time. The dynamical lifetime in near-Earth space for the progenitor meteoroid is predicted to be similar to 87 Myr. This peculiar orbit also points to a delivery from the main asteroid belt via the nu 6 resonance, and therefore an origin in the inner belt. This result contributes to drawing a picture for the existence of a present-day L chondrite parent body in the inner belt.

The Martian nakhlite meteorites, which represent multiple events that belong to a single magma source region represent a key opportunity to study the evolution of Martian petrogenesis. Here 16 of the 26 identified nakhlite specimens are studied using coupled electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and emplacement end‐member calculations. EBSD was used to determine shape preferred orientation of contained augite (high Ca‐clinopyroxene) phenocrysts by considering their crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO). Parameters derived from EBSD, and energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy spectra were used in basic emplacement models to assess their dominant mechanism against three end‐member scenarios: thermal diffusion, crystal settling, and crystal convection. Results from CPO analyses indicate low intensity weak‐moderate CPO. In all samples, a consistent foliation within the <001> axes of augite are observed typically coupled with a weaker lineation CPO in one of the other crystallographic axes. These CPO results agree best with crystal settling being the dominant emplacement mechanism for the nakhlites. Modeled crystal settling results identify two distinguishable groups outside of the model's resolution indicating the presence of secondary emplacement mechanisms. Comparison of the two identified groups against CPO, geochemical, and age parameters indicate random variability between individual meteorites. Therefore, coupled CPO and emplacement modeling results identify an overarching characteristic of a dominant crystal settling emplacement mechanism for the nakhlite source volcano despite exhibiting random variation with each discharge through time.

Martian meteorites are rare; therefore, the discovery of new meteorites has the potential to significantly expand our current understanding of Mars. In this study, we describe four new shergottites, all found within the past 5 yr, in Northwest Africa (NWA): NWA 10441, NWA 10818, NWA 11043, and NWA 12335. To determine the geochemical and mineralogical composition of these new shergottites, a number of traditional and nontraditional analytical techniques were utilized, such as high-resolution X-ray computed tomography (for 3-D modal abundance determination) and electron backscattered diffraction (for identification of shock features). This enabled a comprehensive, nondestructive investigation of the in situ and bulk characteristics of these meteorites. From the results, we confirm the preliminary classifications of NWA 10441 and NWA 12335 as basaltic (diabasic), and NWA 10818 and NWA 11043 as poikilitic, shergottites. Chondrite-normalized rare earth element (REE) patterns of shergottites distinguish likely source reservoirs in the Martian mantle. NWA 10441 and NWA 12335 have bulk enriched REE patterns. NWA 10818 has an intermediate REE pattern, being slightly depleted in the light REE. Although published data for bulk rock REE in NWA 11043 indicate an enriched pattern, here we show that targeted in situ analyses of unaltered minerals reveal an intermediate REE pattern, suggesting that terrestrial weathering combined with shock processes experienced by these meteorites on ejection may affect the bulk analysis. Extensive fracturing in NWA 11043 likely acted as conduits for terrestrial alteration products. We suggest that in situ spot checking of REE in meteorites will constrain any weathering effect on the REE pattern of the bulk rock.

Murrili, the third meteorite recovered by the Desert Fireball Network, is analyzed using mineralogy, oxygen isotopes, bulk chemistry, physical properties, noble gases, and cosmogenic radionuclides. The modal mineralogy, bulk chemistry, magnetic susceptibility, physical properties, and oxygen isotopes of Murrili point to it being an H5 ordinary chondrite. It is heterogeneously shocked (S2–S5), depending on the method used to determine it, although Murrili is not obviously brecciated in texture. Cosmogenic radionuclides yield a cosmic ray exposure age of 6–8 Ma, and a pre‐atmospheric meteoroid size of 15–20 cm in radius. Murrili’s fall and subsequent month‐long embedment into the salt lake Kati Thanda significantly altered the whole rock, evident in its Mössbauer spectra, and visual inspection of cut sections. Murrili may have experienced minor, but subsequent, impacts after its formation 4475.3 ± 2.3 Ma, which left it heterogeneously shocked.

Hydrous phyllosilicate minerals, including the serpentine subgroup, are likely to be major constituents of material that will be bought back to Earth by missions to Mars and to primitive asteroids Ryugu and Bennu. Small quantities (< 60 g) of micrometre‐sized, internally heterogeneous material will be available for study, requiring minimally destructive techniques. Many conventional methods are unsuitable for phyllosilicates as they are typically finely crystalline and electron beam‐sensitive resulting in amorphisation and dehydration. New tools will be required for nanoscale characterisation of these precious extra‐terrestrial samples. Here we test the effectiveness of atom probe tomography (APT) for this purpose. Using lizardite from the Ronda peridotite, Spain, as a terrestrial analogue, we outline an effective analytical protocol to extract nanoscale chemical and structural measurements of phyllosilicates. The potential of APT is demonstrated by the unexpected finding that the Ronda lizardite contains SiO‐rich nanophases, consistent with opaline silica that formed as a by‐product of the serpentinisation of olivine. Our new APT approach unlocks previously unobservable nanominerals and nanostructures within phyllosilicates owing to resolution limitations of more established imaging techniques. APT will provide unique insights into the processes and products of water/rock interaction on Earth, Mars and primitive asteroids.

Asteroid 4 Vesta is the only largely preserved differentiated asteroid and thus is an excellent proxy to study early magmatism occurring on planets and moons. In this study, we focus on eucrite Pecora Escarpment (PCA) 82502, a medium‐ to fine‐grained eucrite which chemical analyses suggest belongs to the main howardite–eucrite–diogenite clan, albeit with some peculiarities. We carried out backscattered electron and electron backscattered diffraction microscopy analyses of the meteorite along with step‐heating 40 Ar/ 39 Ar dating analyses of various types of groundmass aliquots. We show that Pecora Escarpment 82502 is composed of medium‐grained igneous crystalline clasts and smaller fractured satellite clasts surrounded by approximately 50 µm wide impact melt veins of the same composition. Our results show that the large crystalline clasts and fine‐grained veins both display little evidence of shock processes. Six groundmass aliquots from large crystalline clasts returned concordant plateau (>70% of 39 Ar) or mini‐plateau (50–70% of 39 Ar) 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages with a weighted mean of 4531 ± 6 Ma ( P = 0.67). Thermodynamic cooling and 40 Ar diffusion models suggest that the K/Ar system recorded and preserved the igneous age despite subsequent infiltration of hot and quickly quenched melt veins. Our new igneous age, combined with evidence for four other young volcanic and plutonic eucrites of similar age, shows that Vesta was still magmatically active around 4531 Ma. The lack of younger ages suggests that this age might well represent the end of the magmatic activity in the upper crust of Vesta. When combined with existing paleomagnetic constraints, our data suggest that 4 Vesta had an active dynamo that was still active ~35 Ma after accretion.