Stardust in Meteorites

Abstract

Since the discovery and identification of diamond, the first type of presolar grains from meteorites, studies on presolar grains have yielded a wealth of information on nucleosynthesis in stars, mixing in stars and stellar ejecta, and the temporal variation of compositions of the Galaxy, becoming a new field of astronomy. Presolar grains identified to date include diamond, silicon carbide (SiC), graphite, silicon nitride (Si₃N₄), oxides, silicates, and refractory carbides in graphite and SiC.