What minerals within the grain samples from asteroid Ryugu that returned to Earth can teach scientists about this intriguing asteroid and the rest of the solar system? This is what a recent study published in Meteoritics & Planetary Science hopes to address as a team of scientists from academia and research institutions in Japan investigated the source of a rare mineral within the grain samples from asteroid Ryugu. This study has the potential to help scientists better understand not only the formation and evolution of asteroid Ryugu, but of the early solar system.
For the study, the researchers identified the mineral djerfisherite, which contains potassium, iron, and nickel, and surprised the researchers with its appearance as the presence of djerfisherite within Ryugu grains is hypothesized to not be possible due to Rygug’s formation processes. This process included Ryugu forming from a larger planetary body that existed between 1.8 to 2.9 million years after the formation of the solar system, approximately 4.6 billion years ago. Ryugu is hypothesized to have formed in the outer solar system where it’s much colder, whereas djerfisherite is hypothesized to have formed in the inner solar under increased temperatures. Thus, the puzzlement behind its appearance.
Microscopic image of the sample where djerfisherite was found. (Credit: Hiroshima University/Masaaki Miyahara)
Dr. Masaaki Miyahara, who is an associate professor at the Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering at Hiroshima University and lead author of the study noted, “The discovery of djerfisherite in a Ryugu grain suggests that materials with very different formation histories may have mixed early in the solar system’s evolution, or that Ryugu experienced localized, chemically heterogeneous conditions not previously recognized. This finding challenges the notion that Ryugu is compositionally uniform and opens new questions about the complexity of primitive asteroids.”
While further research is necessary to better understand the origins of djerfisherite with Ryugu, its presence could unlock additional secrets into the history of the early solar system and how it formed and evolved.
How will asteroid Ryugu continue to teach scientists about the early solar system in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: Meteoritics & Planetary Science, EurekAlert!