The distribution of aluminum‐26 in the early Solar System—A reappraisal

TLDR

The long nebular histories of CAIs and the >1‑Myr gap between CAI and chondrule formation imply a nebular mechanism that prevented CAIs from drifting into the Sun. Analysis of over 1500 Mg‑isotopic measurements confirms that 26Al was present in the early Solar System, that excess 26Mg in refractory inclusions is intrinsic rather than from mixing, that a minor component lacked 26Al, and that the role of 26Al in heating achondrite parent bodies depends on accretion timing relative to CAI formation.

Abstract

Abstract— A compilation of over 1500 Mg‐isotopic analyses of Al‐rich material from primitive solar system matter (meteorites) shows clearly that 26 Al existed live in the early Solar System. Excesses of 26 Mg observed in refractory inclusions are not the result of mixing of “fossil” interstellar 26 Mg with normal solar system Mg. Some material was present that contained little or no 26 Al, but it was a minor component of solar system matter in the region where CV3 and CO3 carbonaceous chondrites accreted and probably was a minor component in the accretion regions of CM chondrites as well. Data for other chondrite groups are too scanty to make similar statements. The implied long individual nebular histories of CAIs and the apparent gap of one or more million years between the start of CAI formation and the start of chondrule formation require the action of some nebular mechanism that prevented the CAIs from drifting into the Sun. Deciding whether 26 Al was or was not the agent of heating that caused melting in the achondrite parent bodies hinges less on its widespread abundance in the nebula than it does on the timing of planetesimal accretion relative to the formation of the CAIs.