New Analysis Unveils True Nature of Ancient Asteroid

Direct samples from near-Earth asteroid Ryugu offer researchers a glance into the raw products of strong matter in the external areas of the early planetary system.

Since as far back as Ancient Greece, human beings have actually been captivated by the planetary system. However, Japanese scientists have actually now gathered asteroid information that supplies insights into the advancement of the planetary system that earlier researchers such as Ptolemy, Galileo, and Copernicus might just have actually imagined.

Asteroid explorer Hayabusa2, released in 2014, set out for Ryugu, a carbon-rich C-type asteroid. In 2018, it got here in the location of Ryugu, carrying out a variety of remote observations and gathering samples from 2 areas on the asteroid. Before the launch of Hayabusa2, a research study group at Osaka University had actually been establishing a non-destructive technique of light component analysis using muons to evaluate Ryugu.

(Left) An example of a muonic X-ray developed after a muon is caught by an irradiated product. (Right) The sample gotten from the asteroidRyugu Credit: (left) Muon analysis group, (right) JAXA

Against such a background, a preliminary analysis job including worldwide scientists started in 2021, carried out byDr Nakamura of Tohoku University, leader of the “Stone Analysis Team” from the Hayabusa2 Initial AnalysisTeam The details anticipated to come from the Ryugu stone varies, and the Stone Analysis Team performed numerous research studies on the shape of the stone in addition to its essential circulation and mineral structure. The Osaka University research study group had an interest in the type and amount of the components that Ryugu consists of, especially the light essential structure (C, N, O) of the product compound of life, and signed up with the preliminary analysis group.

Figure 2: Comparison in between muonic X-ray spectra from the Ryugu sample and the Orgueil CI chondrite. Credit: Muon Analysis Team

One of the benefits of muon analysis is that the high permeating power of muon particular X-rays makes it possible to non-destructively determine components inside a sample.

Data gotten from the Ryugu samples (figure 2) follow the category of Ryugu as a CI chondrite, plainly recommending that the Ryugu rocks are incredibly primitive product in the planetary system. An even more crucial finding is that the asteroid consists of 25% less oxygen relative to silicon than common CI chondrite meteorites that have actually affected Earth (figure 3). This recommends that CI chondrites, which were formerly considered as a criteria for the chemical structures of strong products in the planetary system, might in truth record some contamination from terrestrial products.

Figure 3: Comparison of the essential structures of the Ryugu sample and the Orgueil CI chondrite (K. Lodders, The Astrophysical Journal, 591, 1220–1247, 2003), revealing the reasonably lower oxygen material in the Ryugu sample compared to CI chondrite. Credit: Muon Analysis Team

Professor Terada states “Carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen are the material substances of life. Therefore, our successful detection of these substances without destroying the Ryugu samples is a groundbreaking achievement.”

Given that analysis of the beautiful samples from Ryugu supplies an uncommon chance to compare product gotten straight from the asteroid with meteorites on Earth, the brand-new information from the Ryugu samples might assist to redefine the basic essential structures of strong products in the planetary system.

Reference: “Formation and evolution of carbonaceous asteroid Ryugu: Direct evidence from returned samples” by T. Nakamura, M. Matsumoto, K. Amano, Y. Enokido, M. E. Zolensky, T. Mikouchi, H. Genda, S. Tanaka, M. Y. Zolotov, K. Kurosawa, S. Wakita, R. Hyodo, H. Nagano, D. Nakashima, Y. Takahashi, Y. Fujioka, M. Kikuiri, E. Kagawa, M. Matsuoka, A. J. Brearley, A. Tsuchiyama, M. Uesugi, J. Matsuno, Y. Kimura, M. Sato, R. E. Milliken, E. Tatsumi, S. Sugita, T. Hiroi, K. Kitazato, D. Brownlee, D. J. Joswiak, M. Takahashi, K. Ninomiya, T. Takahashi, T. Osawa, K. Terada, F. E. Brenker, B. J. Tkalcec, L. Vincze, R. Brunetto, A. Al éon-Toppani, Q. H. S. Chan, M. Roskosz, J.-C. Viennet, P. Beck, E. E. Alp, T. Michikami, Y. Nagaashi, T. Tsuji, Y. Ino, J. Martinez, J. Han, A. Dolocan, R. J. Bodnar, M. Tanaka, H. Yoshida, K. Sugiyama, A. J. King, K. Fukushi, H. Suga, S. Yamashita, T. Kawai, K. Inoue, A. Nakato, T. Noguchi, F. Vilas, A. R. Hendrix, C. Jaramillo-Correa, D. L. Domingue, G. Dominguez, Z. Gainsforth, C. Engrand, J. Duprat, S. S. Russell, E. Bonato, C. Ma, T. Kawamoto, T. Wada, S. Watanabe, R. Endo, S. Enju, L. Riu, S. Rubino, P. Tack, S. Takeshita, Y. Takeichi, A. Takeuchi, A. Takigawa, D. Takir, T. Tanigaki, A. Taniguchi, K. Tsukamoto, T. Yagi, S. Yamada, K. Yamamoto, Y. Yamashita, M. Yasutake, K. Uesugi, I. Umegaki, I. Chiu, T. Ishizaki, S. Okumura, E. Palomba, C. Pilorget, S. M. Potin, A. Alasli, S. Anada, Y. Araki, N. Sakatani, C. Schultz, O. Sekizawa, S. D. Sitzman, K. Sugiura, M. Sun, E. Dartois, E. De Pauw, Z. Dionnet, Z. Djouadi, G. Falkenberg, R. Fujita, T. Fukuma, I. R. Gearba, K. Hagiya, M. Y. Hu, T. Kato, T. Kawamura, M. Kimura, M. K. Kubo, F. Langenhorst, C. Lantz, B. Lavina, M. Lindner, J. Zhao, B. Vekemans, D. Baklouti, B. Bazi, F. Borondics, S. Nagasawa, G. Nishiyama, K. Nitta, J. Mathurin, T. Matsumoto, I. Mitsukawa, H. Miura, A. Miyake, Y. Miyake, H. Yurimoto, R. Okazaki, H. Yabuta, H. Naraoka, K. Sakamoto, S. Tachibana, H. C. Connolly, D. S. Lauretta, M. Yoshitake, M. Yoshikawa, K. Yoshikawa, K. Yoshihara, Y. Yokota, K. Yogata, H. Yano, Y. Yamamoto, D. Yamamoto, M. Yamada, T. Yamada, T. Yada, K. Wada, T. Usui, R. Tsukizaki, F. Terui, H. Takeuchi, Y. Takei, A. Iwamae, H. Soejima, K. Shirai, Y. Shimaki, H. Senshu, H. Sawada, T. Saiki, M. Ozaki, G. Ono, T. Okada, N. Ogawa, K. Ogawa, R. Noguchi, H. Noda, M. Nishimura, N. Namiki, S. Nakazawa, T. Morota, A. Miyazaki, A. Miura, Y. Mimasu, K. Matsumoto, K. Kumagai, T. Kouyama, S. Kikuchi, K. Kawahara, S. Kameda, T. Iwata, Y. Ishihara, M. Ishiguro, H. Ikeda, S. Hosoda, R. Honda, C. Honda, Y. Hitomi, N. Hirata, N. Hirata, T. Hayashi, M. Hayakawa, K. Hatakeda, S. Furuya, R. Fukai, A. Fujii, Y. Cho, M. Arakawa, M. Abe, S. Watanabe and Y. Tsuda, 22 September 2022, Science
DOI: 10.1126/ science.abn8671