Stardust Samples Show Evidence of Fire, Ice

Stardust samples of comet particles might seem like a strange place to find a big component of the green sand found on some Hawaiian beaches, but there it was. The spacecraft, which flew within 150 miles of the comet Wild 2 in January 2004, brought back samples that may provide new insights into the composition of comets and how they vary from one another, scientists said Monday. "Remarkably enough, we have found fire and ice," said Donald Brownlee, Stardust principal investigator and professor of astronomy at the University of Washington in Seattle. The returned samples show high-temperature materials from the coldest part of our solar system. This suggests that the early sun ejected material into the distant regions of the solar system, collecting in comets along with the ice, dust, and gases expected. Read the NASA’s press release and see the Stardust website for more great info about this surprising discovery.