Jakarta –
Two years ago, the Japanese Hayabusa-2 spacecraft delivered a special cargo to Earth. Contains, samples of material collected in asteroid Ryugu. Analysis of the precious few grams of soil from the asteroid’s surface and subsurface has revealed new information about our planet’s past and that of the entire Solar System.
An international team of scientists led by Dr Marine Paquet and Dr Frédéric Moynier at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris studied the composition of the sample. They were especially interested in the isotopic markings of zinc and copper.
Each chemical element exists in different versions depending on the number of neutrons in its nucleus. This composition does not change the chemical properties, but it does change the physical properties because the isotopes have different masses. Some isotopes are so unstable that they decay after a while.
As quoted by IFL Science, the isotope ratios become a kind of chemical fingerprint for the materials found. When it comes to samples from asteroids and meteorites, this information not only tells us about their current composition, it also tells us how these objects formed.
In case of asteroid Ryuguthe team confirmed that the isotopic signatures of copper and zinc make it similar to the Ivuna meteorite, something that was proposed before the discovery of the amino acids in the samples was announced.
The Ivuna meteorite fell in Tanzania on December 16, 1938 and is part of the CI group of carbonaceous chondrites. There are only nine Ivuna meteorites in the world, making them one of the rarest types of meteorites. The Ivuna meteorite is believed to have formed in the outer Solar System and eventually migrated inland.
Ryugu shows compositional similarities to other carbonaceous chondrites, so the researchers wondered if other types might be a better match.
Zinc and copper are where they differ, and for this reason, scientists have chosen these elements to carry out tests that confirm the association with CI chondrites. Traces of zinc can also be used for other measurements that have impacted the history of our planet.
Ingredients from asteroid Ryugu can be considered purely in determining the composition of the early Solar System. Meteorites from asteroids that formed closer to the Sun have a different value than in Ryugu. Armed with that, researchers can estimate that a Ryugu-like asteroid must account for about 6 percent of Earth’s mass.
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