Making a solar system: A recipe for worlds

我们今天看到的太阳系，由一颗中心的星星组成，周围环绕着行星，45亿年前，一团尘埃和气体在自身引力的作用下坍塌而成。我们的团队使用陨石作为工具来探测太阳系形成的最早阶段和行星的演化。我们可以通过研究起源于岩石小行星的陨石来了解太阳系历史的早期阶段。一些小行星在其历史上一直处于休眠状态，并保留了曾经围绕新形成的太阳旋转的物质。我们建议研究这些物体中包含的微米级尘埃，以了解我们太阳系中最原始的物质，并研究这些物质与其他太阳系的关系。其他小行星也有证据表明它们曾被水改变过。这些天体中最初存在的任何冰都已经融化，使液态水与岩石物质反应并产生含水矿物。通过研究这些加工过的陨石中的矿物质，我们的目标是更多地了解早期太阳系中水的丰度和分布，以及富含水的小行星在行星形成中所起的作用。一种非常罕见的陨石，顽火辉石陨石，与地球和其他内行星有化学相似性。我们建议研究这些，以了解更多关于我们自己的星球的前身。水的存在和行动不仅限于地球，小行星和彗星。火星探测任务已经揭示了其表面散布着含水矿物，但尚未返回我们可以在实验室中研究的样本。我们很幸运地收集了一些来自火星的陨石，我们计划研究这些陨石，以了解水在其近代历史中的作用。仰望月球，人们可以看到陨石坑在其历史上是多么重要，太阳系中的所有行星也是如此。如果撞击的是挥发性物质，那么这种物质就会被调动起来，并可能影响气候和大气的组成。我们建议研究撞击对挥发性物质的影响，这对理解火星的演变有影响。

The solar system we see today, comprised of a central star orbited by planets, formed 4.5 billion years ago from a cloud of dust and gas that collapsed under its own gravity. Our group uses meteorites as tools to probe the earliest stages of solar system formation and the evolution of planets. We can learn about the early stages of the solar system's history by studying meteorites that originated in rocky asteroids. Some asteroids have remained rather dormant throughout their history, and preserve the very materials that were once swirling around the newly forming Sun. We propose to study the micron-sized dust contained within these objects to learn about the most pristine materials from our own solar system, and examine how these materials relate to other solar systems. Other asteroids show evidence for having been changed by the action of water. Any ices originally present in these bodies have melted, allowing liquid water to react with the rocky materials and produce water-bearing minerals. By studying the minerals in these processed meteorites we aim to learn more about the abundance and distribution of water in the early solar system, and the role played by water-rich asteroids in the formation of planets. A very rare group of meteorites, the enstatite chondrites, have chemical similarities to the Earth and other inner planets. We propose to study these to learn more about the precursors to our own planet.The presence and action of water is not limited to the Earth, asteroids and comets. Missions to Mars have revealed its surface to be strewn with water-bearing minerals but have yet to return samples that we can study in the laboratory. We are fortunate to have a selection of meteorites that originated on Mars in our collection, and we plan to study these to learn about the action of water during its recent history.An important process throughout the solar system is impact. Looking up to the Moon one can see how vital cratering was to its history, and the same holds for all the planets in the solar system. If the impact was into a volatile material this can be mobilised and potentially affect the climate and the composition of the atmosphere. We propose to study the effects of impact into volatile materials, which has implications for understanding the evolution of Mars.