Manganese minerals
| Borates | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carbonates | |||||
| Oxides |
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| Phosphates | |||||
| Silicates | |||||
| Sulfides | |||||
| Other |
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| Brownleeite | |
|---|---|
| General | |
| Category | Native element class, Fersilicite group |
| Formula (repeating unit) | MnSi |
| IMA symbol | Bwn[1] |
| Strunz classification | 1.XX.00 |
| Dana classification | 01.01.23.07 |
| Crystal system | Isometric |
| Crystal class | Tetartoidal (23) H-M symbol: (23) |
| Space group | P213 |
| Identification | |
| Crystal habit | Cubic grain in microscopic dust particle (< 2.5 μm) |
| References | [2][3] |
Brownleeite is a silicide mineral with chemical formula MnSi. It was discovered by researchers of the Johnson Space Center in Houston while analyzing the Pi Puppid particle shower of the comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup. The only other known natural manganese silicide is mavlyanovite, Mn5Si3.[4]
The particles were collected from the stratosphere over south-western US in April 2003 using an ER-2 high-altitude research aircraft of NASA. The team of researchers from US, Germany and Japan was led by NASA scientist Keiko Nakamura-Messenger.[5][6]
To determine the mineral's origin and examine other dust materials, a new transmission electron microscope was installed in 2005 at Johnson Space Center.[7]
The mineral name was approved by the International Mineralogical Association (IMA Number 2008-011).[8] The NASA scientists named the mineral after Donald E. Brownlee, professor of astronomy at the University of Washington, Seattle, because of his pioneering research on interplanetary dust particles.[9]
