20世紀70年代的唐納德·D·克萊頓(英语:Donald D. Clayton)將星際塵埃引入行星科學,提出了一個新的框架解釋理論。同時,他否認了隕石學家普遍認同太陽系一開始是均勻熱氣體的觀點[7]。取代的是,他預測在不同類型質量損失的恆星中,能在冷凝中的熱體內發現不尋常但可預測的同位素組成。他認為這種顆粒存在於整個星際物質中[7][8]。克萊頓在1975年的一篇論文中首次使用這一想法描述星際物質,述說其中充滿了超新星產生的顆粒,而且這些顆粒富含放射性已經滅絕的氖和氙放射性同位素[9]。 克萊頓定義了幾種可能會被發現的太陽前顆粒:來自紅巨星的星際塵埃, sunocons,來自超新星(SUperNOva)和凝結(CONdensateS)首字母的縮寫[7]。儘管此一學說得到積極和持續的發展,但直到在隕石內發現這樣的顆粒之前,在克萊頓提出此建議的十年內一直沒有得到同儕的支持。
在1987年,在相同的這些酸不溶性殘留物中,發現隕石的酸不溶性星際鑽石顆粒[11]和碳化矽顆粒[12],而且含有大量的惰性氣體。通過改善的二次離子質譜(SIMS)測量這些顆粒的化學結構,又測到了重大的同位素異常[13]。改進的SIMS實驗表明,每個碳化矽顆粒中的矽同位素都不同於太陽系的同位素比率,而是某些紅巨星所預期的同位素比率。因此,星際塵埃是在1987年發現的[12]。要測量微小的星際塵埃中結構元素(例如,碳化矽顆粒中的矽)的同位素豐度比率,需要兩種困難的技術和科學步驟:1)在隕石壓倒性的群體中,定位微米大小的星際塵埃顆粒;2)將SIMS技術發展到足夠高的水準,以測量微米大小顆粒內的同位素豐度比率。恩斯特·津納(英语:Ernst K. Zinner)成為SIMS在微粒領域應用中無可爭辯的領導者[14],為他贏得歷史上的讚譽[15]。
^Ernst Zinner (1998) Stellar nucleosynthesis and the isotopic composition of presolar grains from primitive meteorites, Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences26:147-188.
^T. J. Bernatowicz and R. M Walker (1997) Ancient stardust in the laboratory, Physics Today50:1212, 26-32
^D.D. Clayton and L.R. Nittler, Astrophysics with presolar stardust, Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics42, 39-78 (2004)
^D. C. Black and R. O. Pepin (1969) Trapped neon in meteorites. II., Earth Planet. Sci. Lett.36, 377-394
^J. H. Reynolds and G. Turner (1964) Rare gases in the chondrite Renazzo, J. Geo. Phys. Res.69, 3263-3281
^ Xenon has nine stable isotopes that differ in mass because they have different numbers of neutrons in their atomic nuclei. The mass spectrometer records the number of detected xenon atoms at atomic weights A=124, 126, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 134 and 136. By measuring these at several temperature steps in the heating of the sample it was demonstrated that trapped xenon had differing components within its total. It was speculated that one such component was xenon created when an unknown superheavy nucleus that was assumed to exist in the early Solar System underwent fission.
^ 7.07.17.2D. D. Clayton, Precondensed Matter: Key to the Early Solar System, Astrophys. H. 199, 765 (1975). Moon and Planets19, 109-137 (1978)
^ 8.08.1D.D. Clayton and R.A. Ward, s-process studies: xenon and krypton isotopic abundances, Astrophys. J.224, 1000-1006 (1978). This paper was submitted in 1975 to Geochim. et Cosmochim Acta but was judged at that time to not be relevant to geochemistry. It was resubmitted to Astrophys J in 1978 after Edward Anders stated that he had discovered the pure s-process xenon gas in a bulk carbonaceous residue off a meteorite
^DD Clayton, Extinct radioactivities: trapped residuals of presolar grains, Astrophys. J. 199, 765 (1975); DD Clayton, 22Na, Ne-E, extinct radioactive anomalies and unsupported 40Ar, Nature 257, 36 (1975)
^B. Srinivasan and E. Anders, Science201, 51-56 (1978)
^Lewis R.S., Tang M., Wacker J.F., Anders E. and Steel E. (1987) Interstellar diamonds in meteorites, Nature 326, 160-162
^ 12.012.1Bernatowicz, T., Fraundorf, G., Ming, T., Anders, E., Wopenka, B., Zinner, E., and Fraundorf, P. (1987) Evidence for interstellar SiC in the Murray carbonaceous meteorite, Nature 330, 728.
^Ernst Zinner (1996) Stardust in the laboratory, Science271:5245, 41-42
^A special issue of Meteoritics and Planetary Science 42, No. 7/8 (2007) documents Zinner's role in honor of his 70th birthday. Read especially its introductory article by Kevin McKeegan.
^Zinner died in 2015 at age 78. His obituary is in February 2016 Physics Today by Donald Clayton tells more of Zinner's relationship to SIMS discoveries.
^P. Fraundorf, G. Fraundorf, T. Bernatowicz, R. Lewis, and M. Tang (1989) Ultramicroscopy27:401–412.
^T. L. Daulton, D. D. Eisenhour, T. J. Bernatowicz, R. S. Lewis and P. R. Buseck (1996) Genesis of presolar diamonds: Comparative high-resolution transmission electron microscopy study of meteoritic and terrestrial nano-diamonds, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta60:23, 4853-4872
^T. Bernatowicz, R. Cowsik, P. C. Gibbons, K. Lodders, B. Fegley Jr., S. Amari and R. S. Lewis (1996) Constraints on stellar grain formation from presolar graphite in the Murchison meteorite, Ap. J.472:760-782
^P. Fraundorf and M. Wackenhut (2002) The core structure of pre-solar graphite onions, Ap. J. Lett.578:2, L153-156
^Daulton, T.; Bernatowicz, T. J.; Lewis, R. S.; Messenger, S.; Stadermann, F. J.; Amari, S. Polytype distribution in circumstellar silicon carbide. Science. June 2002, 296 (5574): 1852–1855. PMID 12052956. doi:10.1126/science.1071136.
^T. Bernatowicz, S. Amari, E. Zinner, & R. Lewis (1991) Presolar grains within presolar grains, Ap J Lett, 373:L73
^Hutcheon, I. D.; Huss, G. R.; Fahey, A. J.; Wasserberg, G. J. Extreme Mg-26 and O-17 enrichments in an Orgueil corundum: Identification of a presolar oxide grain. Astrophysical Journal Letters. 1994, 425 (2): L97–L100. Bibcode:1994ApJ...425L..97H. doi:10.1086/187319.
^E. Zinner, S. Amari, R. Guiness, A. Nguyen, F. J. Stadermann, R. M. Walker and R. S. Lewis (2003) Presolar spinel grains from the Murray and Murchison carbonaceous chondrites, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta67:24, 5083-5095
^T. R. Ireland (1990) Presolar isotopic and chemical signatures in hibonite-bearing refractory inclusions from the Murchison carbonaceous chondrite, Geochmica et Cosmochimica Acta54:3219-3237
^Donald D. Clayton and Larry R. Nittler (2004) Astrophysics with presolar stardust, Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics42:39-78