Variations of organic functional chemistry in carbonaceous matter from the asteroid 162173 Ryugu

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 7488 - 11
• Main Authors: De Gregorio, Bradley, Cody, George D., Stroud, Rhonda M., David Kilcoyne, A. L., Sandford, Scott, Le Guillou, Corentin, Nittler, Larry R., Barosch, Jens, Yabuta, Hikaru, Martins, Zita, Kebukawa, Yoko, Okumura, Taiga, Hashiguchi, Minako, Yamashita, Shohei, Takeichi, Yasuo, Takahashi, Yoshio, Wakabayashi, Daisuke, Engrand, Cécile, Bejach, Laure, Bonal, Lydie, Quirico, Eric, Remusat, Laurent, Duprat, Jean, Verdier-Paoletti, Maximilien, Mostefaoui, Smail, Komatsu, Mutsumi, Mathurin, Jérémie, Dazzi, Alexandre, Deniset-Besseau, Ariane, Dartois, Emmanuel, Tamenori, Yusuke, Suga, Hiroki, Montagnac, Gilles, Kamide, Kanami, Shigenaka, Miho, Matsumoto, Megumi, Enokido, Yuma, Yoshikawa, Makoto, Saiki, Takanao, Tanaka, Satoshi, Terui, Fuyuto, Nakazawa, Satoru, Usui, Tomohiro, Abe, Masanao, Okada, Tatsuaki, Yada, Toru, Nishimura, Masahiro, Nakato, Aiko, Miyazaki, Akiko, Yogata, Kasumi, Yurimoto, Hisayoshi, Nakamura, Tomoki, Noguchi, Takaaki, Okazaki, Ryuji, Naraoka, Hiroshi, Sakamoto, Kanako, Tachibana, Shogo, Watanabe, Sei-ichiro, Tsuda, Yuichi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 29.08.2024; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Series: Nature Communications
• Subjects: 147/137; 147/143; 639/33/445/849; 704/445/848; Asteroids; Astrophysics; Carbon; Carbon sources; Carbonaceous meteorites; Chemical Sciences; Chemistry; Clay minerals; Condensed Matter; Earth Sciences; Extraterrestrial matter; Geophysics; Grains; Humanities and Social Sciences; Hydroxyapatite; Macromolecules; Material chemistry; Materials Science; Meteoritic composition; Meteors & meteorites; Minerals; multidisciplinary; Organic compounds; Organic matter; Physics; Population studies; Populations; Regolith; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Sciences of the Universe; Spacecraft
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51731-w

Primordial carbon delivered to the early earth by asteroids and meteorites provided a diverse source of extraterrestrial organics from pre-existing simple organic compounds, complex solar-irradiated macromolecules, and macromolecules from extended hydrothermal processing. Surface regolith collected by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft from the carbon-rich asteroid 162173 Ryugu present a unique opportunity to untangle the sources and processing history of carbonaceous matter. Here we show carbonaceous grains in Ryugu can be classified into three main populations defined by spectral shape: Highly aromatic (HA), Alkyl-Aromatic (AA), and IOM-like (IL). These carbon populations may be related to primordial chemistry, since C and N isotopic compositions vary between the three groups. Diffuse carbon is occasionally dominated by molecular carbonate preferentially associated with coarse-grained phyllosilicate minerals. Compared to related carbonaceous meteorites, the greater diversity of organic functional chemistry in Ryugu indicate the pristine condition of these asteroid samples. A new study of samples from the Ryugu asteroid reveal a greater diversity of macromolecular organic matter than that found in related carbonaceous meteorites. Researchers find distinct populations of alkyl-aromatic grains, and organic carbonate is found with coarse-grained clay minerals