A pristine record of outer Solar System materials from asteroid Ryugu’s returned sample

Motoo Ito; Naotaka Tomioka; Masayuki Uesugi; Akira Yamaguchi; Naoki Shirai; Takuji Ohigashi; Ming Chang Liu; Richard C. Greenwood; Makoto Kimura; Naoya Imae; Kentaro Uesugi; Aiko Nakato; Kasumi Yogata; Hayato Yuzawa; Yu Kodama; Akira Tsuchiyama; Masahiro Yasutake; Ross Findlay; Ian A. Franchi; James A. Malley; Kaitlyn A. McCain; Nozomi Matsuda; Kevin D. McKeegan; Kaori Hirahara; Akihisa Takeuchi; Shun Sekimoto; Ikuya Sakurai; Ikuo Okada; Yuzuru Karouji; Masahiko Arakawa; Atsushi Fujii; Masaki Fujimoto; Masahiko Hayakawa; Naoyuki Hirata; Naru Hirata; Rie Honda; Chikatoshi Honda; Satoshi Hosoda; Yu ichi Iijima; Hitoshi Ikeda; Masateru Ishiguro; Yoshiaki Ishihara; Takahiro Iwata; Kosuke Kawahara; Shota Kikuchi; Kohei Kitazato; Koji Matsumoto; Moe Matsuoka; Tatsuhiro Michikami; Yuya Mimasu; Akira Miura; Osamu Mori; Tomokatsu Morota; Satoru Nakazawa; Noriyuki Namiki; Hirotomo Noda; Rina Noguchi; Naoko Ogawa; Kazunori Ogawa; Tatsuaki Okada; Chisato Okamoto; Go Ono; Masanobu Ozaki; Takanao Saiki; Naoya Sakatani; Hirotaka Sawada; Hiroki Senshu; Yuri Shimaki; Kei Shirai; Seiji Sugita; Yuto Takei; Hiroshi Takeuchi; Satoshi Tanaka; Eri Tatsumi; Fuyuto Terui; Ryudo Tsukizaki; Koji Wada; Manabu Yamada; Tetsuya Yamada; Yukio Yamamoto; Hajime Yano; Yasuhiro Yokota; Keisuke Yoshihara; Makoto Yoshikawa; Kent Yoshikawa; Ryota Fukai; Shizuho Furuya; Kentaro Hatakeda; Tasuku Hayashi; Yuya Hitomi; Kazuya Kumagai; Akiko Miyazaki; Masahiro Nishimura; Hiromichi Soejima; Ayako Iwamae; Daiki Yamamoto; Miwa Yoshitake; Toru Yada; Masanao Abe; Tomohiro Usui; Sei ichiro Watanabe; Yuichi Tsuda

doi:10.1038/s41550-022-01745-5

A pristine record of outer Solar System materials from asteroid Ryugu’s returned sample

Motoo Ito, Naotaka Tomioka, Masayuki Uesugi, Akira Yamaguchi, Naoki Shirai, Takuji Ohigashi, Ming Chang Liu, Richard C. Greenwood, Makoto Kimura, Naoya Imae, Kentaro Uesugi, Aiko Nakato, Kasumi Yogata, Hayato Yuzawa, Yu Kodama, Akira Tsuchiyama, Masahiro Yasutake, Ross Findlay, Ian A. Franchi, James A. MalleyKaitlyn A. McCain, Nozomi Matsuda, Kevin D. McKeegan, Kaori Hirahara, Akihisa Takeuchi, Shun Sekimoto, Ikuya Sakurai, Ikuo Okada, Yuzuru Karouji, Masahiko Arakawa, Atsushi Fujii, Masaki Fujimoto, Masahiko Hayakawa, Naoyuki Hirata, Naru Hirata, Rie Honda, Chikatoshi Honda, Satoshi Hosoda, Yu ichi Iijima, Hitoshi Ikeda, Masateru Ishiguro, Yoshiaki Ishihara, Takahiro Iwata, Kosuke Kawahara, Shota Kikuchi, Kohei Kitazato, Koji Matsumoto, Moe Matsuoka, Tatsuhiro Michikami, Yuya Mimasu, Akira Miura, Osamu Mori, Tomokatsu Morota, Satoru Nakazawa, Noriyuki Namiki, Hirotomo Noda, Rina Noguchi, Naoko Ogawa, Kazunori Ogawa, Tatsuaki Okada, Chisato Okamoto, Go Ono, Masanobu Ozaki, Takanao Saiki, Naoya Sakatani, Hirotaka Sawada, Hiroki Senshu, Yuri Shimaki, Kei Shirai, Seiji Sugita, Yuto Takei, Hiroshi Takeuchi, Satoshi Tanaka, Eri Tatsumi, Fuyuto Terui, Ryudo Tsukizaki, Koji Wada, Manabu Yamada, Tetsuya Yamada, Yukio Yamamoto, Hajime Yano, Yasuhiro Yokota, Keisuke Yoshihara, Makoto Yoshikawa, Kent Yoshikawa, Ryota Fukai, Shizuho Furuya, Kentaro Hatakeda, Tasuku Hayashi, Yuya Hitomi, Kazuya Kumagai, Akiko Miyazaki, Masahiro Nishimura, Hiromichi Soejima, Ayako Iwamae, Daiki Yamamoto, Miwa Yoshitake, Toru Yada, Masanao Abe, Tomohiro Usui, Sei ichiro Watanabe, Yuichi Tsuda

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Volatile and organic-rich C-type asteroids may have been one of the main sources of Earth’s water. Our best insight into their chemistry is currently provided by carbonaceous chondritic meteorites, but the meteorite record is biased: only the strongest types survive atmospheric entry and are then modified by interaction with the terrestrial environment. Here we present the results of a detailed bulk and microanalytical study of pristine Ryugu particles, brought to Earth by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. Ryugu particles display a close compositional match with the chemically unfractionated, but aqueously altered, CI (Ivuna-type) chondrites, which are widely used as a proxy for the bulk Solar System composition. The sample shows an intricate spatial relationship between aliphatic-rich organics and phyllosilicates and indicates maximum temperatures of ~30 °C during aqueous alteration. We find that heavy hydrogen and nitrogen abundances are consistent with an outer Solar System origin. Ryugu particles are the most uncontaminated and unfractionated extraterrestrial materials studied so far, and provide the best available match to the bulk Solar System composition.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1163-1171
Number of pages	9
Journal	Nature Astronomy
Volume	6
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-022-01745-5
Publication status	Published - Oct 2022
Externally published	Yes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Astronomy and Astrophysics

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10.1038/s41550-022-01745-5

Cite this

Ito, M., Tomioka, N., Uesugi, M., Yamaguchi, A., Shirai, N., Ohigashi, T., Liu, M. C., Greenwood, R. C., Kimura, M., Imae, N., Uesugi, K., Nakato, A., Yogata, K., Yuzawa, H., Kodama, Y., Tsuchiyama, A., Yasutake, M., Findlay, R., Franchi, I. A., ... Tsuda, Y. (2022). A pristine record of outer Solar System materials from asteroid Ryugu’s returned sample. Nature Astronomy, 6(10), 1163-1171. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-022-01745-5

Ito, M, Tomioka, N, Uesugi, M, Yamaguchi, A, Shirai, N, Ohigashi, T, Liu, MC, Greenwood, RC, Kimura, M, Imae, N, Uesugi, K, Nakato, A, Yogata, K, Yuzawa, H, Kodama, Y, Tsuchiyama, A, Yasutake, M, Findlay, R, Franchi, IA, Malley, JA, McCain, KA, Matsuda, N, McKeegan, KD, Hirahara, K, Takeuchi, A, Sekimoto, S, Sakurai, I, Okada, I, Karouji, Y, Arakawa, M, Fujii, A, Fujimoto, M, Hayakawa, M, Hirata, N, Hirata, N, Honda, R, Honda, C, Hosoda, S, Iijima, YI, Ikeda, H, Ishiguro, M, Ishihara, Y, Iwata, T, Kawahara, K, Kikuchi, S, Kitazato, K, Matsumoto, K, Matsuoka, M, Michikami, T, Mimasu, Y, Miura, A, Mori, O, Morota, T, Nakazawa, S, Namiki, N, Noda, H, Noguchi, R, Ogawa, N, Ogawa, K, Okada, T, Okamoto, C, Ono, G, Ozaki, M, Saiki, T, Sakatani, N, Sawada, H, Senshu, H, Shimaki, Y, Shirai, K, Sugita, S, Takei, Y, Takeuchi, H, Tanaka, S, Tatsumi, E, Terui, F, Tsukizaki, R, Wada, K, Yamada, M, Yamada, T, Yamamoto, Y, Yano, H, Yokota, Y, Yoshihara, K, Yoshikawa, M, Yoshikawa, K, Fukai, R, Furuya, S, Hatakeda, K, Hayashi, T, Hitomi, Y, Kumagai, K, Miyazaki, A, Nishimura, M, Soejima, H, Iwamae, A, Yamamoto, D, Yoshitake, M, Yada, T, Abe, M, Usui, T, Watanabe, SI & Tsuda, Y 2022, 'A pristine record of outer Solar System materials from asteroid Ryugu’s returned sample', Nature Astronomy, vol. 6, no. 10, pp. 1163-1171. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-022-01745-5

@article{6235d1f94c4f4f6482b6febc36cf3647,

title = "A pristine record of outer Solar System materials from asteroid Ryugu{\textquoteright}s returned sample",

abstract = "Volatile and organic-rich C-type asteroids may have been one of the main sources of Earth{\textquoteright}s water. Our best insight into their chemistry is currently provided by carbonaceous chondritic meteorites, but the meteorite record is biased: only the strongest types survive atmospheric entry and are then modified by interaction with the terrestrial environment. Here we present the results of a detailed bulk and microanalytical study of pristine Ryugu particles, brought to Earth by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. Ryugu particles display a close compositional match with the chemically unfractionated, but aqueously altered, CI (Ivuna-type) chondrites, which are widely used as a proxy for the bulk Solar System composition. The sample shows an intricate spatial relationship between aliphatic-rich organics and phyllosilicates and indicates maximum temperatures of ~30 °C during aqueous alteration. We find that heavy hydrogen and nitrogen abundances are consistent with an outer Solar System origin. Ryugu particles are the most uncontaminated and unfractionated extraterrestrial materials studied so far, and provide the best available match to the bulk Solar System composition.",

author = "Motoo Ito and Naotaka Tomioka and Masayuki Uesugi and Akira Yamaguchi and Naoki Shirai and Takuji Ohigashi and Liu, {Ming Chang} and Greenwood, {Richard C.} and Makoto Kimura and Naoya Imae and Kentaro Uesugi and Aiko Nakato and Kasumi Yogata and Hayato Yuzawa and Yu Kodama and Akira Tsuchiyama and Masahiro Yasutake and Ross Findlay and Franchi, {Ian A.} and Malley, {James A.} and McCain, {Kaitlyn A.} and Nozomi Matsuda and McKeegan, {Kevin D.} and Kaori Hirahara and Akihisa Takeuchi and Shun Sekimoto and Ikuya Sakurai and Ikuo Okada and Yuzuru Karouji and Masahiko Arakawa and Atsushi Fujii and Masaki Fujimoto and Masahiko Hayakawa and Naoyuki Hirata and Naru Hirata and Rie Honda and Chikatoshi Honda and Satoshi Hosoda and Iijima, {Yu ichi} and Hitoshi Ikeda and Masateru Ishiguro and Yoshiaki Ishihara and Takahiro Iwata and Kosuke Kawahara and Shota Kikuchi and Kohei Kitazato and Koji Matsumoto and Moe Matsuoka and Tatsuhiro Michikami and Yuya Mimasu and Akira Miura and Osamu Mori and Tomokatsu Morota and Satoru Nakazawa and Noriyuki Namiki and Hirotomo Noda and Rina Noguchi and Naoko Ogawa and Kazunori Ogawa and Tatsuaki Okada and Chisato Okamoto and Go Ono and Masanobu Ozaki and Takanao Saiki and Naoya Sakatani and Hirotaka Sawada and Hiroki Senshu and Yuri Shimaki and Kei Shirai and Seiji Sugita and Yuto Takei and Hiroshi Takeuchi and Satoshi Tanaka and Eri Tatsumi and Fuyuto Terui and Ryudo Tsukizaki and Koji Wada and Manabu Yamada and Tetsuya Yamada and Yukio Yamamoto and Hajime Yano and Yasuhiro Yokota and Keisuke Yoshihara and Makoto Yoshikawa and Kent Yoshikawa and Ryota Fukai and Shizuho Furuya and Kentaro Hatakeda and Tasuku Hayashi and Yuya Hitomi and Kazuya Kumagai and Akiko Miyazaki and Masahiro Nishimura and Hiromichi Soejima and Ayako Iwamae and Daiki Yamamoto and Miwa Yoshitake and Toru Yada and Masanao Abe and Tomohiro Usui and Watanabe, {Sei ichiro} and Yuichi Tsuda",

note = "Funding Information: We thank all of the scientists and engineers of the Hayabusa2 project, whose dedication and skill brought these precious particles back to Earth. The meteorite samples of Orgueil, Y-791198, Y-82162 and Y 980115 were provided by NIPR, Japan. The synchrotron radiation CT experiments were performed at the BL20XU of SPring-8 with the approval of the Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI) (grant numbers 2021A0166 and 2021B0188). Synchrotron radiation experiments at SPring-8 are supported by RIKEN. The synchrotron radiation STXM–NEXAFS experiment at BL4U of UVSOR was carried out under the MOU between the JAMSTEC Kochi Institute for Core Sample Research and the Institute for Molecular Science UVSOR synchrotron facility. We thank Marine Works Japan for assistance with sample curation, initial non-destructive investigations and sample preparation of the Ryugu particles. We thank the UK embassy in Tokyo for providing support for the transportation of Ryugu particles from Japan to the United Kingdom. Part of this work was performed at facilities of the Institute for Integrated Radiation and Nuclear Science, Kyoto University. This research was supported in part by the JSPS KAKENHI (grant numbers JP18K18795 and JP18H04468 to M.Ito, JP20H01965 to N.T., JP18H05479 (Innovative Areas {\textquoteleft}MFS Materials Science{\textquoteright}) to M.U., JP19H01959 to A.Y., JP21K03652 to N.I., JP15H05695, JP19H00724 and JP20H01381 to K.U., JP20H00205 to A.T., JP17H06459 to T.U., JP19K03958 to M.Abe, JP17H06459 to T.Okada, JP18K03830 to T.Yada, JP19K23473, JP20K14548 to T.H., JP19K23474 and JP21K13986 to D.Y., JP20K14535 to R.F. and JP17H06459 and JP19H01951 to S.W.), the NIPR Research Project (grant number KP307 to A.Y.) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences President{\textquoteright}s International Fellowship Initiative (grant number 2019VCA0004 to AT). Funding Information: We thank all of the scientists and engineers of the Hayabusa2 project, whose dedication and skill brought these precious particles back to Earth. The meteorite samples of Orgueil, Y-791198, Y-82162 and Y 980115 were provided by NIPR, Japan. The synchrotron radiation CT experiments were performed at the BL20XU of SPring-8 with the approval of the Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI) (grant numbers 2021A0166 and 2021B0188). Synchrotron radiation experiments at SPring-8 are supported by RIKEN. The synchrotron radiation STXM–NEXAFS experiment at BL4U of UVSOR was carried out under the MOU between the JAMSTEC Kochi Institute for Core Sample Research and the Institute for Molecular Science UVSOR synchrotron facility. We thank Marine Works Japan for assistance with sample curation, initial non-destructive investigations and sample preparation of the Ryugu particles. We thank the UK embassy in Tokyo for providing support for the transportation of Ryugu particles from Japan to the United Kingdom. Part of this work was performed at facilities of the Institute for Integrated Radiation and Nuclear Science, Kyoto University. This research was supported in part by the JSPS KAKENHI (grant numbers JP18K18795 and JP18H04468 to M.Ito, JP20H01965 to N.T., JP18H05479 (Innovative Areas {\textquoteleft}MFS Materials Science{\textquoteright}) to M.U., JP19H01959 to A.Y., JP21K03652 to N.I., JP15H05695, JP19H00724 and JP20H01381 to K.U., JP20H00205 to A.T., JP17H06459 to T.U., JP19K03958 to M.Abe, JP17H06459 to T.Okada, JP18K03830 to T.Yada, JP19K23473, JP20K14548 to T.H., JP19K23474 and JP21K13986 to D.Y., JP20K14535 to R.F. and JP17H06459 and JP19H01951 to S.W.), the NIPR Research Project (grant number KP307 to A.Y.) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences President{\textquoteright}s International Fellowship Initiative (grant number 2019VCA0004 to AT). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022, The Author(s).",

year = "2022",

month = oct,

doi = "10.1038/s41550-022-01745-5",

language = "English",

volume = "6",

pages = "1163--1171",

journal = "Nature Astronomy",

issn = "2397-3366",

publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",

number = "10",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - A pristine record of outer Solar System materials from asteroid Ryugu’s returned sample

AU - Ito, Motoo

AU - Tomioka, Naotaka

AU - Uesugi, Masayuki

AU - Yamaguchi, Akira

AU - Shirai, Naoki

AU - Ohigashi, Takuji

AU - Liu, Ming Chang

AU - Greenwood, Richard C.

AU - Kimura, Makoto

AU - Imae, Naoya

AU - Uesugi, Kentaro

AU - Nakato, Aiko

AU - Yogata, Kasumi

AU - Yuzawa, Hayato

AU - Kodama, Yu

AU - Tsuchiyama, Akira

AU - Yasutake, Masahiro

AU - Findlay, Ross

AU - Franchi, Ian A.

AU - Malley, James A.

AU - McCain, Kaitlyn A.

AU - Matsuda, Nozomi

AU - McKeegan, Kevin D.

AU - Hirahara, Kaori

AU - Takeuchi, Akihisa

AU - Sekimoto, Shun

AU - Sakurai, Ikuya

AU - Okada, Ikuo

AU - Karouji, Yuzuru

AU - Arakawa, Masahiko

AU - Fujii, Atsushi

AU - Fujimoto, Masaki

AU - Hayakawa, Masahiko

AU - Hirata, Naoyuki

AU - Hirata, Naru

AU - Honda, Rie

AU - Honda, Chikatoshi

AU - Hosoda, Satoshi

AU - Iijima, Yu ichi

AU - Ikeda, Hitoshi

AU - Ishiguro, Masateru

AU - Ishihara, Yoshiaki

AU - Iwata, Takahiro

AU - Kawahara, Kosuke

AU - Kikuchi, Shota

AU - Kitazato, Kohei

AU - Matsumoto, Koji

AU - Matsuoka, Moe

AU - Michikami, Tatsuhiro

AU - Mimasu, Yuya

AU - Miura, Akira

AU - Mori, Osamu

AU - Morota, Tomokatsu

AU - Nakazawa, Satoru

AU - Namiki, Noriyuki

AU - Noda, Hirotomo

AU - Noguchi, Rina

AU - Ogawa, Naoko

AU - Ogawa, Kazunori

AU - Okada, Tatsuaki

AU - Okamoto, Chisato

AU - Ono, Go

AU - Ozaki, Masanobu

AU - Saiki, Takanao

AU - Sakatani, Naoya

AU - Sawada, Hirotaka

AU - Senshu, Hiroki

AU - Shimaki, Yuri

AU - Shirai, Kei

AU - Sugita, Seiji

AU - Takei, Yuto

AU - Takeuchi, Hiroshi

AU - Tanaka, Satoshi

AU - Tatsumi, Eri

AU - Terui, Fuyuto

AU - Tsukizaki, Ryudo

AU - Wada, Koji

AU - Yamada, Manabu

AU - Yamada, Tetsuya

AU - Yamamoto, Yukio

AU - Yano, Hajime

AU - Yokota, Yasuhiro

AU - Yoshihara, Keisuke

AU - Yoshikawa, Makoto

AU - Yoshikawa, Kent

AU - Fukai, Ryota

AU - Furuya, Shizuho

AU - Hatakeda, Kentaro

AU - Hayashi, Tasuku

AU - Hitomi, Yuya

AU - Kumagai, Kazuya

AU - Miyazaki, Akiko

AU - Nishimura, Masahiro

AU - Soejima, Hiromichi

AU - Iwamae, Ayako

AU - Yamamoto, Daiki

AU - Yoshitake, Miwa

AU - Yada, Toru

AU - Abe, Masanao

AU - Usui, Tomohiro

AU - Watanabe, Sei ichiro

AU - Tsuda, Yuichi

N1 - Funding Information: We thank all of the scientists and engineers of the Hayabusa2 project, whose dedication and skill brought these precious particles back to Earth. The meteorite samples of Orgueil, Y-791198, Y-82162 and Y 980115 were provided by NIPR, Japan. The synchrotron radiation CT experiments were performed at the BL20XU of SPring-8 with the approval of the Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI) (grant numbers 2021A0166 and 2021B0188). Synchrotron radiation experiments at SPring-8 are supported by RIKEN. The synchrotron radiation STXM–NEXAFS experiment at BL4U of UVSOR was carried out under the MOU between the JAMSTEC Kochi Institute for Core Sample Research and the Institute for Molecular Science UVSOR synchrotron facility. We thank Marine Works Japan for assistance with sample curation, initial non-destructive investigations and sample preparation of the Ryugu particles. We thank the UK embassy in Tokyo for providing support for the transportation of Ryugu particles from Japan to the United Kingdom. Part of this work was performed at facilities of the Institute for Integrated Radiation and Nuclear Science, Kyoto University. This research was supported in part by the JSPS KAKENHI (grant numbers JP18K18795 and JP18H04468 to M.Ito, JP20H01965 to N.T., JP18H05479 (Innovative Areas ‘MFS Materials Science’) to M.U., JP19H01959 to A.Y., JP21K03652 to N.I., JP15H05695, JP19H00724 and JP20H01381 to K.U., JP20H00205 to A.T., JP17H06459 to T.U., JP19K03958 to M.Abe, JP17H06459 to T.Okada, JP18K03830 to T.Yada, JP19K23473, JP20K14548 to T.H., JP19K23474 and JP21K13986 to D.Y., JP20K14535 to R.F. and JP17H06459 and JP19H01951 to S.W.), the NIPR Research Project (grant number KP307 to A.Y.) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences President’s International Fellowship Initiative (grant number 2019VCA0004 to AT). Funding Information: We thank all of the scientists and engineers of the Hayabusa2 project, whose dedication and skill brought these precious particles back to Earth. The meteorite samples of Orgueil, Y-791198, Y-82162 and Y 980115 were provided by NIPR, Japan. The synchrotron radiation CT experiments were performed at the BL20XU of SPring-8 with the approval of the Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI) (grant numbers 2021A0166 and 2021B0188). Synchrotron radiation experiments at SPring-8 are supported by RIKEN. The synchrotron radiation STXM–NEXAFS experiment at BL4U of UVSOR was carried out under the MOU between the JAMSTEC Kochi Institute for Core Sample Research and the Institute for Molecular Science UVSOR synchrotron facility. We thank Marine Works Japan for assistance with sample curation, initial non-destructive investigations and sample preparation of the Ryugu particles. We thank the UK embassy in Tokyo for providing support for the transportation of Ryugu particles from Japan to the United Kingdom. Part of this work was performed at facilities of the Institute for Integrated Radiation and Nuclear Science, Kyoto University. This research was supported in part by the JSPS KAKENHI (grant numbers JP18K18795 and JP18H04468 to M.Ito, JP20H01965 to N.T., JP18H05479 (Innovative Areas ‘MFS Materials Science’) to M.U., JP19H01959 to A.Y., JP21K03652 to N.I., JP15H05695, JP19H00724 and JP20H01381 to K.U., JP20H00205 to A.T., JP17H06459 to T.U., JP19K03958 to M.Abe, JP17H06459 to T.Okada, JP18K03830 to T.Yada, JP19K23473, JP20K14548 to T.H., JP19K23474 and JP21K13986 to D.Y., JP20K14535 to R.F. and JP17H06459 and JP19H01951 to S.W.), the NIPR Research Project (grant number KP307 to A.Y.) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences President’s International Fellowship Initiative (grant number 2019VCA0004 to AT). Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s).

PY - 2022/10

Y1 - 2022/10

N2 - Volatile and organic-rich C-type asteroids may have been one of the main sources of Earth’s water. Our best insight into their chemistry is currently provided by carbonaceous chondritic meteorites, but the meteorite record is biased: only the strongest types survive atmospheric entry and are then modified by interaction with the terrestrial environment. Here we present the results of a detailed bulk and microanalytical study of pristine Ryugu particles, brought to Earth by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. Ryugu particles display a close compositional match with the chemically unfractionated, but aqueously altered, CI (Ivuna-type) chondrites, which are widely used as a proxy for the bulk Solar System composition. The sample shows an intricate spatial relationship between aliphatic-rich organics and phyllosilicates and indicates maximum temperatures of ~30 °C during aqueous alteration. We find that heavy hydrogen and nitrogen abundances are consistent with an outer Solar System origin. Ryugu particles are the most uncontaminated and unfractionated extraterrestrial materials studied so far, and provide the best available match to the bulk Solar System composition.

AB - Volatile and organic-rich C-type asteroids may have been one of the main sources of Earth’s water. Our best insight into their chemistry is currently provided by carbonaceous chondritic meteorites, but the meteorite record is biased: only the strongest types survive atmospheric entry and are then modified by interaction with the terrestrial environment. Here we present the results of a detailed bulk and microanalytical study of pristine Ryugu particles, brought to Earth by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. Ryugu particles display a close compositional match with the chemically unfractionated, but aqueously altered, CI (Ivuna-type) chondrites, which are widely used as a proxy for the bulk Solar System composition. The sample shows an intricate spatial relationship between aliphatic-rich organics and phyllosilicates and indicates maximum temperatures of ~30 °C during aqueous alteration. We find that heavy hydrogen and nitrogen abundances are consistent with an outer Solar System origin. Ryugu particles are the most uncontaminated and unfractionated extraterrestrial materials studied so far, and provide the best available match to the bulk Solar System composition.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85135874707&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85135874707&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/s41550-022-01745-5

DO - 10.1038/s41550-022-01745-5

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85135874707

SN - 2397-3366

VL - 6

SP - 1163

EP - 1171

JO - Nature Astronomy

JF - Nature Astronomy

IS - 10

ER -

A pristine record of outer Solar System materials from asteroid Ryugu’s returned sample

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