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This holiday season’s best gift came in a small package that parachuted into the Australian desert from afar into our solar system on December 5, 2020.
Inside, astronomers were delighted to take the first significant samples of the asteroid rocks that are currently 9 million kilometers (5.6 million miles) away and returned to Earth in a “best-case” format.
The images of pure pebbles have finally been released, and while the little black pebbles inside may look like dirty coals, this galactic gift isn’t a rebuke. It’s the culmination of a five-year journey that requires careful planning and implementation.
The samples were originally collected by the Japanese expedition Hayabusa2, which was sent to trap and sample a diamond-shaped asteroid called Ryugu, after the success of its first mission.
Samples from the asteroid Ryugu in the return capsule weigh approximately 5.4 grams! This far exceeds the target yield of 0.1g (the amount required for the initial scientific analysis) specified during the Hayabusa2 design.
(Article in Japanese: https://t.co/IZFGinhuFc)– HAYABUSA2 @ JAXA (@ haya2e_jaxa) December 18, 2020
The original Hayabusa spacecraft returned from the asteroid Itokawa in 2010 with the first direct sample of a near-Earth object. In total, the surface material was weighed under one milligram, but it was still sufficient to provide important information on the age of the asteroids and geological history.
Ryugu’s new samples – recovered last year – date back further and contain more material than astronomers hope – around 5.4 grams.
The name Ryugu refers to a magical underwater “dragon palace” in Japanese folklore, where a mysterious box is offered to the hunter to take home – like sealed Hayabusa capsules.
The treasure in this case is believed to be over 4.5 billion years old – a holdover from our early solar system, which contains potentially ancient material that once formed our sun and the planets that revolve around it.
Upon opening the carefully sealed chambers, astronomers found numerous particles larger than a millimeter. The people in Room C were slightly taller than the others and were picked up on the second strike of the mission.
Receiving chamber A sample, captured by an optical microscope. (JAXA)
Since this subsidence occurred slightly north of a volcano that was intentionally created earlier in the mission, the researchers expected the sample to contain bits of underground material. That would be a huge achievement, since all the other asteroid samples collected in space are simply from the surface.
Prior to these first-hand samples, most of our knowledge on the subject of asteroids came from meteors, which are asteroids or comets that eventually collide with the Earth’s surface.
Unfortunately, without the protection of an artificial capsule, many of these materials are destroyed or contaminated by our planet’s atmosphere upon entering it, not to mention all the changes that occur once these rocks rest on Earth.
Ryugu is a Type C asteroid, which means that its rock is very porous and contains a lot of carbon and water. Astronomers suspect that this black mound of rubble formed billions of years ago, when it separated from another large body of rock somewhere in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Because Ryugu’s surface looks unusually dry and red in color, some experts believe it has already moved closer to the sun.
However, not all materials collected in these containers are critical. One of the capsules contains an obvious anachronism (photo below).
Sample from reception room C, captured under an optical microscope. (Jazz)
“Synthetic material seems to be present in room C,” press release on the Hayabusa2 project bed.
“The original is under investigation, but one possible source is the aluminum scraped from the horn of the spacecraft’s sampler when launching the projectile to displace materials during landing.”
Later, A. Update Twitter said the object is still unconfirmed, but may have come loose from the sampling mouthpiece used during the collection.
Work on the Ryugu sample format is progressing steadily. On December 21, sample collection rooms B and C were opened, and then the contents of rooms A and C were transferred to the collection containers in the photo. The largest particle in part C is about 1 cm! pic.twitter.com/yWO15cKhG9
– HAYABUSA2 @ JAXA (@ haya2e_jaxa) December 24, 2020
Scientists have already started to analyze these new samples, including the gas trapped inside the capsules, which are also believed to have collected on the Ryugu’s surface.
If the researchers are correct, this would be the world’s first gas sample returned from deep space.
Enough already present.
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