ryugu

Life on Earth may have come from space. At least, that’s the general belief, especially after recent observations of samples from the asteroid Ryugu. According to the researchers looking into the samples, Ryugu appears to contain several “prebiotic organics,” including a few different types of amino acids. These amino acids are often known as the “building blocks of life,” which could further theories that life formed in space. Or, at the least, that the basic ingredients needed for life to form were delivered…

This conceptual image illustrates the types of organic molecules found in the sample of asteroid Ryugu collected by Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft. Organics are the building blocks of all known forms of terrestrial life and consist of a wide variety of compounds made of carbon combined with hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and other atoms. However, organic molecules can also be created by non-living processes, such as chemical reactions in asteroids. Credit: NASA/JAXA/Dan GallagherAsteroid Ryugu has a rich complement of…

While studying the chemical composition of the Ryugu Asteroid, scientists can find out how the solar system was formed. Here’s what the study says. Asteroid Ryugu is a diamond-shaped space rock that may hold several secrets about the formation of our solar system. In research recently published in Nature Astronomy, scientists used mineral samples from the Ryugu asteroid to understand the chemical composition of our solar system in its early stages of around 4.5 billion years ago. The sample was collected by Japan's…

Mineral samples collected from the asteroid Ryugu continue to be a treasure trove of interesting information for scientists, with a new analysis revealing the object's birth place.It turns out Ryugu originated towards the outer reaches of the Solar System, where comets usually form.A large team of researchers headed by a team from Hokkaido University in Japan looked closely at the minerals that make up Ryugu, using instruments including a scanning electron microscope and a secondary ion mass spectrometer.In particular,…

The analysis of samples from the asteroid Ryugu has revealed the constituents that the early solar system could have been made up of. The solar system is essentially the reason why we exist today. So, it is not really surprising that humans have always been fascinated by the origin of the solar system. But despite a curiosity of hundreds of years, our knowledge around it is vastly limited. And that was part of the reason why the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the Hayabusa2 spacecraft to bring…

Japan’s Hayabusa2 mission to asteroid Ryugu. Credit: JAXAAlthough it has been nearly two years since Japanese mission Hayabusa2 returned to Earth, samples from asteroid Ryugu are still revealing valuable information about the history of the early solar system. A new study reveals the isotopic composition of zinc and copper of asteroid Ryugu. According to the isotopic signatures, Ryugu’s composition is close to Ivuna-like carbonaceous chondrites, and Ryugu-like material from the outer solar system accounts for ~5-6% of…

Specks of dust retrieved by a Japanese space probe from an asteroid some 300 million kilometres from Earth have revealed a surprising component: a drop of water, scientists said Friday. The discovery offers new support for the theory that life on Earth was seeded from outer space.The findings are in the latest research to be published from the analysis of 5.4 grams of rocks and dust gathered by the Hayabusa-2 probe from the asteroid Ryugu."This drop of water has great meaning," lead scientist Tomoki Nakamura of Tohoku…

Examining samples from asteroid Ryugu, scientists have made a startling discovery. They have spotted microscopic grains of ancient materials that are even older than our Solar System. Located in the near-Earth solar orbit, asteroid Ryugu is shaped like a spinning top and orbits the Sun every 16 months. The Hayabusa2 spacecraft of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) was tasked with exploring asteroid Ryugu (162173) from June 2018 to November 2019. Dispatching a series of landers and penetrators, the spacecraft…

The asteroid Ryugu is located roughly 300 million kilometers from Earth. It completes an orbit around the Sun every 16 months, and many believe an asteroid like it helped fuel the origin of water on Earth. Now, an international team of researchers studying dust particles gathered from Ryugu believe they may have discovered presolar stardust — space dust that existed before our solar system was formed. Ryugu has dust older than our solar system Image source: Artsiom P / AdobeThe evidence was collected by…

Tiny fragments of rock brought back from an asteroid in near-Earth solar orbit are so old, they predate the Solar System.A new analysis of samples of asteroid Ryugu has revealed the presence of mineral grains forged in the outflows or explosions of old stars before our own Sun formed. As identified by previous research, these presolar grains reveal Ryugu is very similar to a class of meteorites known as Ivuna-type carbonaceous (CI) chondrites. However, the presence of some fragile grains indicate that parts of Ryugu may…