(Yada, et al.; Nature Astronomy)
Scientists working with soil samples from the asteroid Ryugu, delivered to Earth by the Hayabusa-2 mission, have published new data.
The team found more than ten types of amino acids in the soil, as well as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nitrogen compounds.
The findings support the idea that C-type asteroids could be suppliers of prebiotic compounds to the young Earth.
The asteroid Ryugu belongs to the C-type.
These bodies are characterized by low albedo, are found mainly in the Main belt located between Mars and Jupiter, and are considered parent bodies of carbonaceous meteorites.
Such meteorites, in turn, often contain various organic substances, including prebiotic compounds such as amino acids.
Thus, C-type asteroids could deliver prebiotic organic molecules necessary for the emergence of life to the young Earth in the distant past.
In order to comprehensively study the substance of C-type asteroids, it is necessary to deliver it to terrestrial laboratories
That is the reason the Japanese space probe Hayabusa-2 went into space in 2014.
It received two soil samples (from the surface and from the subsurface layer of the asteroid) and delivered them to Earth in December 2020.
Now a group of planetary scientists and members of the Hayabusa-2 research group, led by Hiroshi Naraoka from Kyushu University in Japan, published the results of a search for organic compounds in Ryugu soil samples brought to Earth.
The aim of the research was a sample weighing 17.15 milligrams, collected from the surface of an asteroid
The material was studied by various methods of mass spectrometry and mass spectroscopy.
The sample contained 3.76 mass fractions of carbon, 1.14 mass fractions of hydrogen, and 0.16 mass fractions of nitrogen.
All of this means that Ryugu is richer in these elements compared to various types of carbonaceous chondrites.
An enrichment in heavy isotopes of hydrogen and nitrogen is observed, which is similar to CI-type chondrites.
More than 10 types of amino acids have been found, including proteinogenic amino acids such as glycine, D,L-alanine, as well as non-proteinogenic amino acids, including b-alanine and D,L-a-aminobutyric acid.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and various nitrogen compounds were also found in the samples.
The scientists concluded that Ryugu's substance contains a surprisingly large variety of organic compounds of extraterrestrial abiogenic origin and has been exposed to water but not to high temperatures in the past.
Source:
- 53rd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC): https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2022/pdf/1781.pdf
- Space.com: https://www.space.com/asteroid-ryugu-samples-analysis-hyabusa2