Publication detail

The evolution of organic material on Asteroid 162173 Ryugu and its delivery to Earth

Changela, HG. Kebukawa, Y. Petera, L. Ferus, M. Chatzitheodoridis, E. Nejdl, L. Nebel, R. Protiva, V. Krepelka, P. Moravcova, J. Holbova, R. Hlavenkova, Z. Samoril, T. Bridges, JC. Yamashita, S. Takahashi, Y. Yada, T. Nakato, A. Sobotkova, K. Tesarova, H. Zapotok, D.

Original Title

The evolution of organic material on Asteroid 162173 Ryugu and its delivery to Earth

Type

journal article in Web of Science

Language

English

Original Abstract

The recent return of samples from asteroid 162173 Ryugu provides a first insight into early Solar System prebiotic evolution from known planetary bodies. Ryugu's samples are CI chondrite-like, rich in water and organic material, and primarily composed of phyllosilicate. This phyllosilicate surrounds micron to submicron macromolecular organic particles known as insoluble organic matter. Using advanced microscopy techniques on Hayabusa-2 samples, we find that aqueous alteration on Ryugu produced organic particles richer in aromatics compared to less altered carbonaceous chondrites. This challenges the view that aromatic-rich organic matter formed pre-accretion. Additionally, widespread diffuse organic material occurs in phyllosilicate more aliphatic-, carboxylic-rich, and aromatic-poor than the discrete organic particles, likely preserving the soluble organic material. Some organic particles evolved to encapsulate phyllosilicate, indicating that aqueous alteration on Ryugu led to the containment of soluble organic matter within these particles. Earth therefore has been, and continues to be, delivered micron-sized polymeric organic objects containing biologically relevant molecules. Studies of samples of asteroid Ryugu returned by the Hayabusa-2 mission show that the action of water and organic material on carbonaceous asteroids lead to the widespread occurrence of micron-sized polymeric organic particles encapsulating clays and biological relevant molecules.

Keywords

AQUEOUS ALTERATION; MATTER; CHEMISTRY; CHONDRITES; METEORITE; ORIGIN; RENAZZO

Authors

Changela, HG.; Kebukawa, Y.; Petera, L.; Ferus, M.; Chatzitheodoridis, E.; Nejdl, L.; Nebel, R.; Protiva, V.; Krepelka, P.; Moravcova, J.; Holbova, R.; Hlavenkova, Z.; Samoril, T.; Bridges, JC.; Yamashita, S.; Takahashi, Y.; Yada, T.; Nakato, A.; Sobotkova, K.; Tesarova, H. ; Zapotok, D.

Released

22. 7. 2024

Publisher

NATURE PORTFOLIO

Location

BERLIN

ISBN

2041-1723

Periodical

NATURE COMMUNICATIONS

Year of study

15

Number

1

State

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Pages count

14

URL

BibTex

@article{BUT189895,
  author="Changela, HG. and Kebukawa, Y. and Petera, L. and Ferus, M. and Chatzitheodoridis, E. and Nejdl, L. and Nebel, R. and Protiva, V. and Krepelka, P. and Moravcova, J. and Holbova, R. and Hlavenkova, Z. and Samoril, T. and Bridges, JC. and Yamashita, S. and Takahashi, Y. and Yada, T. and Nakato, A. and Sobotkova, K. and Tesarova, H. and Zapotok, D.",
  title="The evolution of organic material on Asteroid 162173 Ryugu and its delivery to Earth",
  journal="NATURE COMMUNICATIONS",
  year="2024",
  volume="15",
  number="1",
  pages="14",
  doi="10.1038/s41467-024-50004-w",
  issn="2041-1723",
  url="https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:001274556600024"
}