Extremely $^{54}$Cr- and $^{50}$Ti-rich presolar oxide grains in a primitive meteorite: Formation in rare types of supernovae and implications for the astrophysical context of solar system birth

TL;DR

This study identifies presolar oxide grains with extreme isotopic enrichments in $^{54}$Cr and $^{50}$Ti from a primitive meteorite, suggesting their origin in rare supernovae types and implications for solar system formation.

Contribution

First evidence of presolar grains from high-density Type Ia supernovae or electron-capture supernovae, linking stellar nucleosynthesis to solar system material heterogeneity.

Findings

Most enriched grains are <80 nm in size.

Isotopic data match predictions for rare supernovae origins.

ECSN origin is plausible due to frequency and timescale considerations.

Abstract

We report the identification of 19 presolar oxide grains from the Orgueil CI meteorite with substantial enrichments in $^{54}$Cr, with $^{54}$Cr/$^{52}$Cr ratios ranging from 1.2 to 56 times the solar value. The most enriched grains also exhibit enrichments at mass 50, most likely due in part to $^{50}$Ti, but close-to-normal or depleted $^{53}$Cr/$^{52}$Cr ratios. There is a strong inverse relationship between $^{54}$Cr enrichment and grain size; the most extreme grains are all <80 nm in diameter. Comparison of the isotopic data with predictions of nucleosynthesis calculations indicate that these grains most likely originated in either rare, high-density Type Ia supernovae (SNIa), or in electron-capture supernovae (ECSN) which may occur as the end stage of evolution for stars of mass 8-10 M$_\odot$. This is the first evidence for preserved presolar grains from either type of supernova. An ECSN origin is attractive since these likely occur much more frequently than high-density SNIa, and their evolutionary timescales ($\sim$20 Myr) are comparable to those of molecular clouds. Self-pollution of the Sun's parent cloud from an ECSN may explain the heterogeneous distribution of n-rich isotopic anomalies in planetary materials, including a recently reported dichotomy in Mo isotopes in the solar system. The stellar origins of three grains with solar $^{54}$Cr/$^{52}$Cr, but anomalies in $^{50}$Cr or $^{53}$Cr, as well as of a grain enriched in $^{57}$Fe, are unclear.