Tungsten isotopic compositions in stardust SiC grains from the Murchison meteorite: Constraints on the s-process in the Hf-Ta-W-Re-Os region

TL;DR

This study measures tungsten isotopic compositions in stardust SiC grains from the Murchison meteorite to better understand the s-process nucleosynthesis in AGB stars, revealing partial agreement with models and highlighting areas needing further research.

Contribution

First tungsten isotopic measurements in stardust SiC grains from the Murchison meteorite, providing new constraints on the s-process in AGB stars and identifying discrepancies with current models.

Findings

Small deviations in 182W/184W and 183W/184W ratios from solar in aggregate grains.

Single grains show lower than solar 182W/184W, 183W/184W, and 186W/184W ratios.

Models match some isotopic ratios but cannot explain the 186W/184W ratios observed.

Abstract

We report the first tungsten isotopic measurements in stardust silicon carbide (SiC) grains recovered from the Murchison carbonaceous chondrite. The isotopes 182W, 183W, 184W, 186W and 179Hf, 180Hf were measured on both an aggregate (KJB fraction) and single stardust SiC grains (LS+LU fraction) believed to have condensed in the outflows of low-mass carbon-rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars with close-to-solar metallicity. The SiC aggregate shows small deviations from terrestrial (=solar) composition in the 182W/184W and 183W/184W ratios, with deficits in 182W and 183W with respect to 184W. The 186W/184W ratio, however, shows no apparent deviation from the solar value. Tungsten isotopic measurements in single mainstream stardust SiC grains revealed lower than solar 182W/184W, 183W/184W, and 186W/184W ratios. We have compared the SiC data with theoretical predictions of the evolution of W isotopic ratios in the envelopes of AGB stars. These ratios are affected by the slow neutron-capture process and match the SiC data regarding their 182W/184W, 183W/184W, and 179Hf/180Hf isotopic compositions, although a small adjustment in the s-process production of 183W is needed in order to have a better agreement between the SiC data and model predictions. The models cannot explain the 186W/184W ratios observed in the SiC grains, even when the current 185W neutron-capture cross section is increased by a factor of two. Further study is required to better assess how model uncertainties (e.g., the formation of the 13C neutron source, the mass-loss law, the modelling of the third dredge-up, and the efficiency of the 22Ne neutron source) may affect current s-process predictions.