Samples of the carbonaceous asteroid Ryugu were brought to Earth by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. We analyzed 17 Ryugu samples measuring 1 to 8 millimeters. Carbon dioxide-bearing water inclusions are present within a pyrrhotite crystal, indicating that Ryugu's parent asteroid formed in the outer Solar System. The samples contain low abundances of materials that formed at high temperatures, such as chondrules and calcium- and aluminum-rich inclusions. The samples are rich in phyllosilicates and carbonates, which formed through aqueous alteration reactions at low temperature, high pH, and water/rock ratios of <1 (by mass). Less altered fragments contain olivine, pyroxene, amorphous silicates, calcite, and phosphide. Numerical simulations, based on the mineralogical and physical properties of the samples, indicate that Ryugu's parent body formed ~2 million years after the beginning of Solar System formation.
The characteristics of a coarse-grained high-remanence magnetite obtained from shocked Vredefort granite were investigated by X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) analysis and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). The study utilized a spectroscopic photoelectron low-energy electron emission microscope (SPELEEM) and was conducted in the SPring-8 large-synchrotron radiation facility. It is generally believed that the strong and stable bulk remanence of Vredefort granites is due to the presence of minerals that have been strongly magnetized by either an impact-generated magnetic field or terrestrial lightning strikes. Although coarse-grained magnetite is traditionally characterized by weak coercivity and remanence, the specimen used in the present study exhibited high coercivity and an intense remanent magnetization. The presence of hematite lamellae observed on the partially oxidized magnetite specimen indicated an array of striped domains, intensifying a remanence and coercivity. We also conducted XAS and XMCD analyses on a natural lodestone permanent magnet produced by lightning strikes; while maghemite was found to be present, no magnetic domain structures were observed. Considering that the nucleation of hematite lamellae on magnetite/maghemite grains is due to high-temperature oxidation, we attribute the intense remanent magnetization and magnetic hardening of Vredefort granites to post-impact hydrothermal activity.
Carbonaceous meteorites are thought to be fragments of C-type (carbonaceous) asteroids. Samples of the C-type asteroid (162173) Ryugu were retrieved by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. We measured the mineralogy and bulk chemical and isotopic compositions of Ryugu samples. The samples are mainly composed of materials similar to those of carbonaceous chondrite meteorites, particularly the CI (Ivuna-type) group. The samples consist predominantly of minerals formed in aqueous fluid on a parent planetesimal. The primary minerals were altered by fluids at a temperature of 37° ± 10°C, about [Formula: see text] million (statistical) or [Formula: see text] million (systematic) years after the formation of the first solids in the Solar System. After aqueous alteration, the Ryugu samples were likely never heated above ~100°C. The samples have a chemical composition that more closely resembles that of the Sun's photosphere than other natural samples do.
The extraterrestrial materials returned from asteroid (162173) Ryugu consist predominantly of low-temperature aqueously formed secondary minerals and are chemically and mineralogically similar to CI (Ivuna-type) carbonaceous chondrites. Here, we show that high-temperature anhydrous primary minerals in Ryugu and CI chondrites exhibit a bimodal distribution of oxygen isotopic compositions: 16O-rich (associated with refractory inclusions) and 16O-poor (associated with chondrules). Both the 16O-rich and 16O-poor minerals probably formed in the inner solar protoplanetary disk and were subsequently transported outward. The abundance ratios of the 16O-rich to 16O-poor minerals in Ryugu and CI chondrites are higher than in other carbonaceous chondrite groups but are similar to that of comet 81P/Wild2, suggesting that Ryugu and CI chondrites accreted in the outer Solar System closer to the accretion region of comets.
