| Brownleeite | |
| Category: | Native element class, Fersilicite group |
| Formula: | MnSi |
| Imasymbol: | Bwn[1] |
| Strunz: | 1.XX.00 |
| Dana: | 01.01.23.07 |
| System: | Isometric |
| Class: | Tetartoidal (23) H-M symbol: (23) |
| Symmetry: | P213 |
| 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]