(ORDO NEWS) — An international team of researchers studying samples from the asteroid Ryugu brought back to Earth by Japan‘s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft have found evidence that the asteroid formed in the outer solar system, not far from where comets normally form.
In their article, published in the journal Science Advances, the scientists also note that some of the substances found in the samples appear to have been transported from the inner regions of the solar system to the outer.
Two years ago, dust samples collected from the asteroid Ryugu were brought to Earth by the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa-2.
Since then, various research groups have studied them to learn more about asteroids and the formation of planetary bodies in the solar system.
In this new work, the researchers focused their attention on minerals found in dust samples.
They found traces of amino acids along with carbonate minerals, substances that tend to form in cold water environments. Such evidence suggests that the asteroid formed in the outer solar system.
The researchers also found many similarities between Ryugu and Iwuna (a carbonaceous chondrite meteorite found many years ago in Tanzania). Their copper and zinc isotopes were very similar.
Some substances in Ryugu dust could not have formed in the outer solar system: minerals such as spinel, olivine and perovskite form at high temperatures.
The researchers found that some of the isotope ratios were similar to those found by researchers studying samples brought back from comet Wild 2.
The researchers believe that Ryugu formed in the outer solar system, not far from where most comets form.
During its formation, some of the material that originated in the inner solar system made its way into the outer solar system and collided with the newly formed asteroid, replenishing its composition.
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