Understanding Origins at the Open University (UO@OU)
Lead Research Organisation:
The Open University
Department Name: Physical Sciences
Abstract
Our research project is called Understanding Origins at the Open University; the origins that we wish to study are those of the Solar System, and how it evolved to allow life to arise. We already know a lot about how the Solar System came into being. The Sun and planets formed from a turbulent cloud of dust and gas about 4570 million years ago. The cloud collapsed, and as it flattened to a spinning disk, dust and gas spiralled inwards. The core of the disk became extremely hot, forming the Sun, and the leftover dust and gas formed the planets of our Solar System. Closest to the Sun are the small rocky planets, further away are the outer giant planets of gas and ice, separated by the Asteroid Belt: millions of objects made of rock,metal and organics. Collisions between asteroids cause fragments to be thrown out from the Asteroid Belt; occasionally falling to Earth as meteorites, or causing larger, more devastating impacts. In the outer Solar System, the temperature was sufficiently cold to allow water to solidify to ice. Comets (bodies of ice and dust mixed with organic compounds) are the left-over building blocks of the outer planets. If we know all this about our Solar System, what is there still to learn? We plan to study in detail certain aspects of Solar System history - what was the original dust made from that produced comets? What types of organic compounds were present? How have they been changed by collisions and radiation from the Sun and other stars? How has the ice been altered? We want to know about asteroids - how many small ones are there? what are their shapes, spin rates,and physical structures and how do they evolve?. Answers to these questions will help us understand better the chances of the Earth being hit by one - and maybe help us plan what to do about it. What are asteroids made from? Some asteroids got so hot that they melted and separated into bodies with metal cores and rocky crusts - how do they relate to asteroids that were never molten? Why are some unmelted meteorites rich in metal, whilst others are just rock? All these questions will help us understand the original cloud of gas and dust within which the planets formed, and which also contained the building blocks of life. Could life have got going on any other planets as well as Earth? What about Mars? Its crust was once cut by rivers and glaciers, but is now dry and dusty. The rivers produced minerals that can be seen by from satellites that orbit Mars. We also have rocks from Mars on Earth - chunks broken from the planet by asteroids hitting the surface. We can analyse the constituent minerals and learn about the water that produced some of them. We can also look for signatures of past biological activity has altered the rocks. But how do we start to answer these questions? In our laboratories, we use sensitive equipment to analyse meteorites that have come from the Asteroid Belt and from Mars. We study dust collected from high in the Earth's atmosphere and directly from a comet during a space mission. We do experiments to mimic some of the processes that asteroids and comets have suffered (e.g., being hit in collisions), and we use computers to make models of how asteroids and comets are affected by heat and by the Sun's radiation. We also collect data using instruments mounted on telescopes, and on spacecraft orbiting Mars. We build our own instruments to fly on space missions, and are constantly trying to make them smaller and lighter. We also explore ways in which some of the instruments can be used on Earth, for medical or security purposes. One of the most important benefits of our research is that it helps to train and inspire students to become the next generation of scientists and engineers. We also enjoy telling as many people as possible about the work that we do, and what we have learned from it about our origins.
Organisations
Publications
TOMIOKA N
(2012)
Laihunite in planetary materials: An FTIR and TEM study of oxidized synthetic and meteoritic Fe-rich olivine
in Journal of Mineralogical and Petrological Sciences
Melwani Daswani M
(2016)
Alteration minerals, fluids, and gases on early Mars: Predictions from 1-D flow geochemical modeling of mineral assemblages in meteorite ALH 84001
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Barrett T
(2016)
The abundance and isotopic composition of water in eucrites
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
DAVIDSON J
(2012)
A NanoSIMS and Raman spectroscopic comparison of interplanetary dust particles from comet Grigg-Skjellerup and non-Grigg Skjellerup collections
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Starkey N
(2013)
A Raman spectroscopic study of organic matter in interplanetary dust particles and meteorites using multiple wavelength laser excitation
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Gross J
(2013)
Petrography, mineral chemistry, and crystallization history of olivine-phyric shergottite NWA 6234: A new melt composition
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Ivanova M
(2013)
Experimental simulation of oxygen isotopic exchange in olivine and implication for the formation of metamorphosed carbonaceous chondrites
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Gnos E
(2013)
The Wabar impact craters, Saudi Arabia, revisited
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Pillinger C
(2014)
The Danebury Iron Age meteorite-An H5 ordinary chondrite "find" from Hampshire, England
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Giesting P
(2015)
Igneous and shock processes affecting chassignite amphibole evaluated using chlorine/water partitioning and hydrogen isotopes
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Schwenzer S
(2013)
Quantifying noble gas contamination during terrestrial alteration in Martian meteorites from Antarctica
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Johnson D
(2013)
Analysis of a prehistoric Egyptian iron bead with implications for the use and perception of meteorite iron in ancient Egypt
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
GARDNER-VANDY K
(2011)
Petrology and geochemistry of the Northwest Africa 3368 eucrite
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
ROSZJAR J
(2011)
Thermal history of Northwest Africa 5073--A coarse-grained Stannern-trend eucrite containing cm-sized pyroxenes and large zircon grains
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
METZLER K
(2011)
The L3-6 chondritic regolith breccia Northwest Africa (NWA) 869: (I) Petrology, chemistry, oxygen isotopes, and Ar-Ar age determinations
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
FILIBERTO J
(2012)
Geochemistry of intermediate olivine-phyric shergottite Northwest Africa 6234, with similarities to basaltic shergottite Northwest Africa 480 and olivine-phyric shergottite Northwest Africa 2990
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
JANOTS E
(2011)
Jiddat al Harasis 422: A ureilite with an extremely high degree of shock melting
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Abernethy F
(2013)
Stable isotope analysis of carbon and nitrogen in angrites
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Downes H
(2015)
Isotopic composition of carbon and nitrogen in ureilitic fragments of the Almahata Sitta meteorite
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
JANOTS E
(2012)
Jiddat al Harasis 556: A howardite impact melt breccia with an H chondrite component
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
MORLOK A
(2012)
Chondrules born in plasma? Simulation of gas-grain interaction using plasma arcs with applications to chondrule and cosmic spherule formation
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
HAACK H
(2012)
Maribo-A new CM fall from Denmark
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
DARTNELL L
(2012)
Experimental determination of photostability and fluorescence-based detection of PAHs on the Martian surface
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Jenniskens P
(2014)
Fall, recovery, and characterization of the Novato L6 chondrite breccia
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Filiberto J.
(2013)
Constraints on the Origin of the Olivine-Megacrysts and the Parental Magma of NWA 1068 from Melt Inclusions
in Meteoritics and Planetary Science Supplement
Abernethy F. A. J.
(2012)
A Trapped Nitrogen Component in Angrites
in Meteoritics and Planetary Science Supplement
Charlier B. L. A.
(2011)
Dating of Secondary Minerals in Nakhlites
in Meteoritics and Planetary Science Supplement
Abernethy F. A. J.
(2013)
The High-Temperature Release of Carbon and Nitrogen in the Angrites and its Relationship to Parent Body Degassing
in Meteoritics and Planetary Science Supplement
Abernethy F. A. J.
(2011)
A Preliminary Study of Magmatic Volatiles in Angrites
in Meteoritics and Planetary Science Supplement
Abernethy F. A. J.
(2013)
Graphitic Raman Spectra in Angrites: A source of High-Temperature Carbon?
in Meteoritics and Planetary Science Supplement
Rozitis B
(2012)
The influence of rough surface thermal-infrared beaming on the Yarkovsky and YORP effects The Yarkovsky and YORP effects
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Rozitis B
(2013)
The influence of global self-heating on the Yarkovsky and YORP effects
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Wolters S
(2011)
Physical characterization of low delta-V asteroid (175706) 1996 FG3? Physical characterization of 1996 FG3
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Rozitis B
(2013)
The strength and detectability of the YORP effect in near-Earth asteroids: a statistical approach
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Murdoch N
(2013)
Simulating regoliths in microgravity
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Duddy S
(2013)
Spectroscopic observations of unbound asteroid pairs using the WHT?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Fulle M
(2016)
Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko preserved the pebbles that formed planetesimals
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Rozitis B
(2011)
Directional characteristics of thermal-infrared beaming from atmosphereless planetary surfaces - a new thermophysical model Characteristics of thermal-infrared beaming
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Vandaele AC
(2015)
Optical and radiometric models of the NOMAD instrument part I: the UVIS channel.
in Optics express
Anand M
(2014)
Understanding the origin and evolution of water in the Moon through lunar sample studies.
in Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences
Murdoch N
(2013)
Granular convection in microgravity.
in Physical review letters
Murdoch N
(2013)
Publisher's Note: Granular Convection in Microgravity [Phys. Rev. Lett. 110 , 018307 (2013)]
in Physical Review Letters
Lorenz R
(2014)
Silence on Shangri-La: Attenuation of Huygens acoustic signals suggests surface volatiles
in Planetary and Space Science
Wright I
(2012)
L-VRAP-A lunar volatile resources analysis package for lunar exploration
in Planetary and Space Science
Westall F
(2011)
Volcaniclastic habitats for early life on Earth and Mars: A case study from ~3.5Ga-old rocks from the Pilbara, Australia
in Planetary and Space Science
Andrews D
(2012)
Ptolemy operations and results during the Lutetia flyby
in Planetary and Space Science
Grün E
(2012)
Active Cosmic Dust Collector
in Planetary and Space Science
Mousis O
(2014)
Scientific rationale for Saturn?s in situ exploration
in Planetary and Space Science
Miljkovic K
(2012)
Models of dust around Europa and Ganymede
in Planetary and Space Science
Kömle NI
(2011)
In situ methods for measuring thermal properties and heat flux on planetary bodies.
in Planetary and space science
Description | We have analysed interplanetary dust particles, tracing their origins back to comets. The research, along with work on meteorites and asteroid modelling, has had direct input to the Rosetta mission. Similarly, work on hydrous alteration of martian meteorites has influenced interpretation of data from martian space missions, and has contributed to a better understanding of how microorganisms interact with rocks, and the traces they leave behind. |
Exploitation Route | We have developed an instrument that is capable of determining the composition (elemental and isotopic) of gases. This has applications in many different fields, including health, security and defence. We have also worked on the effects of radiation on different materials, working in partnership with industry to develop new detectors that are more radiation resistant. Again, the applications of these detectors are manifold. The research is continuing with additional funds from non-RC funds, including medical charities and space agencies. |
Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Education,Electronics,Energy,Environment,Healthcare,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections,Security and Diplomacy |
URL | http://www.open.ac.uk/science/physical-science/planetary-space-sciences |
Description | (1) Public engagement Numerous lectures, talks and school visits. PhD students become STEM ambassadors. (2) Instrument development and applications Additional funding from non-RC sources support development of spaceflight instrumentation for application in medical and defence areas |
First Year Of Impact | 2011 |
Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Education,Healthcare |
Impact Types | Cultural,Societal,Economic |
Description | STERLIM |
Amount | € 300,000 (EUR) |
Organisation | European Space Agency |
Sector | Public |
Country | France |
Start | 10/2015 |
End | 09/2017 |
Description | Conversation pieces |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The OU was one of the first universities to support the daily news blog The Conversation (https://theconversation.com/uk). The site has the tag-line "Academic rigour, journalistic flair": academic specialists write the articles, which are edited for readability. This is the opposite from most news sites, in which journalists write the articles, relying on specialists to provide a quote. Five of the CoIs on the CG have written 61 articles in the past two years, which have been read a total of 1.5 million times; an additional 4 PDRA and 3 PhD students have written a further 13 articles, attracting 380,000 views. Every article is accompanied by the text 'X receives funding from the STFC'. One of the CoIs (Grady) has a column on the site, which is syndicated to the US and Australian editions of the news site, gaining a wider coverage for the articles. At the current rate of growth of the site, it is anticipated that there is likely to be at least one article per week from CG staff, their PDRA and students, gaining a global coverage for their research. Updated in March 2017: the PI alone has had more than a million reads of her articles |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014,2015,2016 |
URL | https://theconversation.com/uk |
Description | Public Lectures |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | The PI, MMG, has given between about 30 public lectures, talks and school visits each year since forever. Following the successful Rosetta mission, she has given around 50 such presentations a year, leading to animated discussions about comets and other extraterrestrial bodies, the value of space exploration as an incentive for studying science and engineering, technological developments and spin outs from space missions and the cost of space exploration when weighed against other calls on the public purse. At almost every lecture, MMG receives additional invitations to give talks. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009,2010,2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017 |
Description | Royal Society Summer Exhibition |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Royal Society Summer Exhibition takes place over 7 days in central London. In 2014, we led a consortium of institutions to produce an exhibit about comets and the Rosetta mission, and also were a partner in an exhibition about GAIA. In 2015, we again led a consortium exhibition about Rosetta and comets. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014,2016 |