Stardust Interstellar Preliminary Examination III: Infrared spectroscopic analysis of interstellar dust candidates

Abstract Under the auspices of the Stardust Interstellar Preliminary Examination, picokeystones extracted from the Stardust Interstellar Dust Collector were examined with synchrotron Fourier transform infrared ( FTIR ) microscopy to establish whether they contained extraterrestrial organic material. The picokeystones were found to be contaminated with varying concentrations and speciation of organics in the native aerogel, which hindered the …