Extremely Cr-54- and Ti-50-rich Presolar Oxide Grains in a Primitive Meteorite: Formation in Rare Types of Supernovae and Implications for the Astrophysical Context of Solar System Birth

We report the identification of 19 presolar oxide grains from the Orgueil CI meteorite with substantial enrichments in Cr-54, with Cr-54/Cr-52 ratios ranging from 1.2 to 56 times the solar value. The most enriched grains also exhibit enrichments at mass-50, most likely due in part to Ti-50, but close-to-normal or depleted Cr-53/Cr-52 ratios. There is a strong inverse relationship between 54Cr enrichment and grain size; the most extreme grains are all <80 nm in diameter. Comparison of the isotopic data with predictions of nucleosynthesis calculations indicate that these grains most likely originated in either rare, high-density Type Ia supernovae (SN Ia), or in electron-capture supernovae (ECSN), which may occur as the end stage of evolution for stars of mass 8-10 M-circle dot. This is the first evidence for preserved presolar grains from either type of supernova. An ECSN origin is attractive, as these likely occur much more frequently than high-density SN Ia, and their evolutionary timescales (similar to 20 Myr) are comparable to those of molecular clouds. Self-pollution of the Sun's parent cloud from an ECSN may explain the heterogeneous distribution of n-rich isotopic anomalies in planetary materials, including a recently reported dichotomy in Mo isotopes in the solar system. The stellar origins of three grains with solar Cr-54/Cr-52, but anomalies in Cr-50 or Cr-53, as well as of a grain enriched in Fe-57, are unclear.