They may be tiny, ancient chunks of rock, but asteroids never fail to capture scientists' attention. These wandering space bodies aren't just relics from the solar system's early days — they can also drift close enough to Earth to spark both curiosity and caution, reminding us how dynamic our cosmic neighborhood really is.
In an interesting update, researchers have found that Ryugu, a near-Earth asteroid rich in carbon that was announced in 2015, was formed by liquid water flowing through it.
The results show that Ryugu's parent body remained wet for over a billion years after its birth, according to microscopic samples returned by Japan's Hayabusa2 mission. These findings cast doubt on the widely held belief that water-related activities on asteroids ceased early in the history of the solar system and offer more information about the possible formation of Earth's oceans.
According to a study conducted by University of Tokyo researchers, Ryugu maintained a "pristine record" of late water activity. By examining the lutetium and hafnium isotopes in their rock samples, the team discovered evidence that liquid water once passed through the minerals on the asteroid.
Associate professor Tsuyoshi Iizuka explained, "If water remained on these bodies for long periods of time, it suggests that asteroids such as Ryugu could have harbored and carried more water to early Earth than we ever thought."
The team thinks buried ice may have melted as a result of an impact on Ryugu's parent asteroid. It permits water to seep through fissures and change the rock chemically.
The parent body may break during this process, creating Ryugu. The discovery highlights the possibility that these asteroids significantly influenced the formation of Earth's atmosphere and oceans.
Using just milligrams of sample material, researchers created sophisticated chemical techniques to identify these minute signs of water movement. They now intend to compare their findings with NASA's Bennu asteroid mission and investigate phosphate veins found in the samples for more accurate dating.
