Brownleeit

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Brownleeit
General and classification
other names

IMA 2008-011

chemical formula MnSi
Mineral class
(and possibly department) 		elements
System no. to Strunz
and to Dana 		1.BB.15
01.01.23.07
Crystallographic Data
Crystal system cubic
Crystal class ; symbol tetrahedral pentagon dodecahedral; 23
Room group (no.) P 2 1 3 (No. 198)
Lattice parameters a  = 4.557  Å
Formula units Z  = 6
Physical Properties
Mohs hardness Please complete!
Density (g / cm 3 ) calculated: 2.91
Cleavage Please complete!
colour Please complete!
Line color Please complete!
transparency opaque
shine Please complete!

Brownleeit is a very rare manganese - silicon - mineral from the mineral class of " elements (metals, intermetallic alloys, metalloids and non-metals, carbides, silicides, nitrides and phosphides)" that has not yet been proven on earth . It crystallizes in the cubic crystal system with the chemical composition MnSi and so far could only be detected in the form of microscopic particles in collected cosmic dust .

Etymology and history

The discovery of the mineral was announced in a NASA report on June 12, 2008. It was named in honor of the professor of astronomy (planetary researcher) Donald E. Brownlee from the University of Washington in Seattle (pronunciation therefore English braʊnliːʌɪt ).

Brownleeit has been recognized as a mineral by the International Mineralogical Association (IMA). It has the IMA number 2008-011.

classification

Since Brownleeit was only discovered in 2008, it is not listed in the Strunz system of minerals (8th edition), which has been outdated since 2001 . The 9th edition of Strunz's mineral systematics , which has been in effect since 2001 and is used by the International Mineralogical Association (IMA), assigns Brownleeit to the class of "elements" and there to the department of "metallic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus compounds". This is, however, further subdivided according to the exact type of compound, so that the mineral can be found according to its composition in the subdivision of "Silicides", where it forms the unnamed group 1.BB.15 together with Fersilicit (N) and Naquite .

The systematics of minerals according to Dana , which is mainly used in the English-speaking world , is also classified by Brownleeit in the class of "elements" and there in the department of the same name. Here he is with Suessit , gupeiite , xifengite , Luobusait , Mavlyanovit and hapkeite in the "Suessitgruppe, suicides" with the system no. 01.01.23.07 to be found in the subsection of " Elements: metallic elements other than the platinum group ".

Crystal structure

Brownleeit crystallizes in the cubic crystal system in the space group P 2 1 3 with the lattice parameter a  = 4.557  Å and six formula units per unit cell .

properties

As a so-called manganese silicide , brown conductor has semiconductor properties .

Education and Locations

So far nothing is known about the formation conditions of the mineral. Brownleeit was discovered in 2003 in dust particles that had been trapped by a Lockheed ER-2 aircraft in the stratosphere over the southwestern United States. "The mineral was found in the form of an IDP (interstellar dust particle) with a diameter of 5 µm in only three grains with diameters of 100, 450 and 600 nm". It is believed that the trapped particles came from Comet 26P / Grigg-Skjellerup , whose dust trail crossed Earth in April 2003. In this way the dust trail could be explored.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Webmineral - Brownleeite (English)
  2. ↑ NASA txt (engl.)
  3. ↑ Brownleeit at mindat.org (English)
  4. ^ Chemical and structural studies of 'Brownlee' particles , bibcode : 1978LPSC .... 9.1187F
  5. ↑ ER-2 High Altitude Airborne Science Aircraft nasa.gov
  6. ↑ Mineralienatlas: Brownleeit (number and size of particles)
  7. ^ Vince Stricherz: Like a rock: New mineral named for UW astronomer . washington.edu, June 12, 2008; accessed June 17, 2017.