Oxygen in the Sun

2008/03/17 Roa Zubia, Guillermo - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Astrofisika

The NASA Genesis probe took samples of the outer layers of the Sun and took them to Earth for analysis. Unfortunately, the probe suffered an accident, NASA engineers were unable to catch the probe when it entered the atmosphere in September 2004, and collided with the land surface in the Utah desert in the United States. Since then, astronomers have made many efforts to recover what the probe has brought and analyze the samples that have remained intact. Among those that can be seen in the image, the oxygen in the Sun has been known. They find a surprise: the proportion of the oxygen isotope 16 is higher in the Sun than on Earth. Like the 16 of oxygen, 17 of oxygen and 18 of oxygen are stable isotopes, but they are hardly formed by what they are in a very small proportion. On planet Earth, 16 of oxygen is approximately 99.8% of oxygen. Measurements on meteorites, Mars and the Moon yield similar results. Astronomers believe that the Sun data is a reflection of the oxygen originating in the solar system. Whether this is true or not, astronomers have begun to work to explain why the distribution of oxygen isotopes is different in the Sun and Earth. NASA, Johnson Space Center