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Deep space asteroid sample contains unexpected ingredient
- On December 5, 2020, a capsule from Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft landed in the Australian outback with mineral samples from the asteroid Ryugu.
- Researchers found a mineral, djerfisherite, on Ryugu that challenges existing theories on the asteroid's formation.
- Ryugu is believed to have formed from an impact event with another asteroid and shares similarities with CI chondrite meteorites.
- Enstatite chondrites, like Ryugu, are rare and form in high-temperature regions of the solar system, unlike CI chondrites.
- The discovery of djerfisherite in Ryugu's mineral samples is compared to finding a tropical seed in Arctic ice.
- The presence of djerfisherite challenges the idea that Ryugu has a uniform composition.
- The researchers used electron microscopy to observe the djerfisherite, hinting at early solar system mixing or localized heterogeneous conditions on Ryugu.
- Djerfisherite forms at high temperatures, suggesting complex interactions in the early solar system's evolution.
- Further isotopic studies are planned to understand the origins of the minerals on Ryugu.
- Hayabusa2 is set to rendezvous with a new asteroid, 1998 KY, in 2031.
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