. 24/7 Space News .
IRON AND ICE
How was the solar system formed? The Ryugu asteroid is helping us learn
by Staff Writers
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 19, 2023

162173 Ryugu as imaged at a distance of 40km by Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft.

Mineral samples collected from the Ryugu asteroid by the Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft are helping UCLA space scientists and colleagues better understand the chemical composition of our solar system as it existed in its infancy, more than 4.5 billion years ago.

In research recently published in Nature Astronomy, scientists using isotopic analysis discovered that carbonate minerals from the asteroid were crystallized through reactions with water, which originally accreted to the asteroid as ice in the still-forming solar system, then warmed into liquid. These carbonates, they say, formed very early on - within the first 1.8 million years of the solar system's existence - and they preserve a record of the temperature and composition of the asteroid's aqueous fluid as it existed at that time.

The rocky, carbon-rich Ryugu is the first C-type (C stands for "carbonaceous") asteroid from which samples have been gathered and studied, said study co-author Kevin McKeegan, a distinguished professor of Earth, planetary and space sciences at UCLA. What makes Ryugu special, he noted, is that unlike meteorites, it has not had potentially contaminating contact with Earth. By analyzing the chemical fingerprints in the samples, scientists can develop a picture of not only how Ryugu formed but where.

"The Ryugu samples tell us that the asteroid and similar objects formed relatively rapidly in the outer solar system, beyond the condensation fronts of water and carbon dioxide ices, probably as small bodies," McKeegan said.

The researchers' analysis determined that Ryugu's carbonates formed several million years earlier than previously thought, and they indicate that Ryugu - or a progenitor asteroid from which it may have broken off - accreted as a relatively small object, probably less than 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) in diameter.

This result is surprising, McKeegan said, because most models of asteroid accretion would predict assembly over longer periods, resulting in the formation of bodies at least 50 kilometers (more than 30 miles) in diameter that could better survive collisional evolution over the long history of the solar system.

And while Ryugu is currently only about 1 kilometer in diameter as a result of collisions and reassembly throughout its history, it is very unlikely it was ever a large asteroid, the researchers said. They noted that any larger asteroid formed very early on in the solar system would have been heated to high temperatures by the decay of large amounts of aluminum-26, a radioactive nuclide, resulting in the melting of rock throughout the asteroid's interior, along with chemical differentiation, such as the segregation of metal and silicate.

Ryugu shows no evidence of that, and its chemical and mineralogical compositions are equivalent to those found in the most chemically primitive meteorites, the so-called CI chondrites, which are also thought to have formed in the outer solar system.

McKeegan said ongoing research on the Ryugu materials will continue to open a window onto the formation of the solar system's planets, including Earth.

"Improving our understanding of volatile- and carbon-rich asteroids helps us address important questions in astrobiology - for example, the likelihood that rocky planets like can access a source of prebiotic materials," he said.

To date the carbonates in the Ryugu samples, the team extended methodology developed at UCLA for a different "short-lived" radioactive decay system involving the isotope manganese-53, which was present Ryugu.

The study was co-led by Kaitlyn McCain, a UCLA doctoral student at the time of the research who now works at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, and postdoctoral researcher Nozomi Matsuda, who works in the ion microprobe laboratory of the UCLA's Department of Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences.

Other co-authors of the paper are scientists from the Phase 2 curation Kochi team in Japan, led by Motoo Ito. This team is responsible for curating particles from the regolith sample collected from the Ryugu asteroid and analyzing their petrological and chemical characteristics by coordinated microanalytical techniques.

The work was funded by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, NASA, the National Science Foundation's Instrumentation and Facilities program and several agencies in Japan.

Research Report:Early fluid activity on Ryugu inferred by isotopic analyses of carbonates and magnetite


Related Links
University of California - Los Angeles
Asteroid and Comet Mission News, Science and Technology


Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly


paypal only
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal


IRON AND ICE
New explanation for Jupiter's two massive asteroid swarms
Abu Dhabi UAE (SPX) Jan 18, 2023
An international team of scientists including NYUAD researcher Nikolaos Georgakarakos and others from the US, Japan, and China led by Jian Li from Nanjing University, has developed new insights that may explain the numerical asymmetry of the L4 and L5 Jupiter Trojan swarms, two clusters containing more than 10,000 asteroids that move along Jupiter's orbital path around the sun. For decades, scientists have known that there are significantly more asteroids in the L4 swarm than the L5 swarm, but hav ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

IRON AND ICE
Astronauts conduct first ISS spacewalk of 2023

RIT scientists help rediscover earliest known star map using multispectral imaging

Zero-Covid left in dust as Chinese revellers fuel travel boom

Crop seeds, microbial strains tested in China's two space missions unveiled

IRON AND ICE
NASA, DARPA will test nuclear engine for future Mars missions

Boeing CST-100 Starliner Crew and Service Modules Mated

Rocket Lab launches first Electron mission from US

NASA, Boeing teams achieve milestone ahead of crewed flight

IRON AND ICE
Our Encanto: Sols 3716-3717

Back on the Job: Sol 3715

To the Marker Band again: Sols 3712-3714

Sol 3721: Wrapping up at the Encanto Drill Site

IRON AND ICE
China to launch 200-plus spacecraft in 2023

Chinese astronauts send Spring Festival greetings from space station

China's space industry hits new heights

China's first private sector 2023 rocket launch up, up and away

IRON AND ICE
How ESA works with the EU to advance European space

Britain's Tim Peake steps down from ESA astronaut corps

Inmarsat announces trans-Atlantic 'stepping stone' trip for latest British satellite

UK Space Agency announces new funding for satellite communications

IRON AND ICE
Flashes on the Sun could help scientists predict solar flares

Eutelsat successfully decommissions EUTELSAT 5 West A satellite

GMV to develop the ground control center for Hisdesat's new

UK to offer 600m pounds in pollution-cutting support for steelmakers: media

IRON AND ICE
New small laser device can help detect signs of life on other planets

Webb Telescope identifies origins of icy building blocks of life

Rare opportunity to study short-lived volcanic island reveals sulfur-metabolizing microbes

How do rocky planets really form

IRON AND ICE
Exotic water ice contributes to understanding of magnetic anomalies on Neptune and Uranus

Tumultuous migration on the edge of the Hot Neptune Desert

From Europe to Jupiter via Kourou

Airbus finalises JUICE ready for its mission to Jupiter









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.