Macromolecular organic matter in samples of the asteroid (162173) Ryugu.
Hikaru YabutaGeorge D CodyCécile EngrandYoko KebukawaBradley De GregorioLydie BonalLaurent RemusatRhonda M StroudEric QuiricoLarry R NittlerMinako HashiguchiMutsumi KomatsuTaiga OkumuraJeremie MathurinEmmanuel DartoisJean DupratYoshio TakahashiYasuo TakeichiA L David KilcoyneShohei YamashitaAlexandre DazziAriane Deniset-BesseauScott A SandfordZita MartinsYusuke TamenoriTakuji OhigashiHiroki SugaDaisuke WakabayashiMaximilien J Verdier-PaolettiSmail MostefaouiGilles MontagnacJens BaroschKanami KamideMiho ShigenakaLaure BejachMegumi MatsumotoYuma EnokidoTakaaki NoguchiHisayoshi YurimotoTomoki NakamuraRyuji OkazakiHiroshi NaraokaKanako SakamotoHarold C ConnollyDante S LaurettaMasanao AbeTatsuaki OkadaToru YadaMasahiro NishimuraKasumi YogataAiko NakatoMiwa YoshitakeAyako I SuzukiShizuho FuruyaKentaro HatakedaAkiko MiyazakiHiromichi SoejimaYuya HitomiKazuya KumagaiTomohiro UsuiTasuku HayashiDaiki YamamotoRyohta FukaiSeiji SugitaKohei KitazatoNaru HirataRie HondaTomokatsu MorotaEri TatsumiNaoya SakataniNoriyuki NamikiKoji MatsumotoRina NoguchiKoji WadaHiroki SenshuKazunori OgawaYasuhiro YokotaYoshiaki IshiharaYuri ShimakiManabu YamadaChikatoshi HondaTatsuhiro MichikamiMoe MatsuokaNaoyuki HirataMasahiko ArakawaChisato OkamotoMasateru IshiguroRalf JaumannJean-Pierre BibringMatthias GrottStefan E SchröderKatharina OttoCedric PilorgetNicole SchmitzJens BieleTra-Mi HoAurélie Moussi-SoffysAkira MiuraHirotomo NodaTetsuya YamadaKeisuke YoshiharaKosuke KawaharaHitoshi IkedaYukio YamamotoKei ShiraiShota KikuchiNaoko OgawaHiroshi TakeuchiGo OnoYuya MimasuKento YoshikawaYuto TakeiAtsushi FujiiYu-Ichi IijimaSatoru NakazawaSatoshi HosodaTakahiro IwataMasahiko HayakawaHirotaka SawadaHajime YanoRyudo TsukizakiMasanobu OzakiFuyuto TeruiSatoshi TanakaMasaki FujimotoMakoto YoshikawaTakanao SaikiShogo TachibanaSei'ichiro WatanabeYuichi TsudaPublished in: Science (New York, N.Y.) (2023)
Samples of the carbonaceous asteroid (162173) Ryugu were collected and brought to Earth by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. We investigated the macromolecular organic matter in Ryugu samples and found that it contains aromatic and aliphatic carbon, ketone, and carboxyl functional groups. The spectroscopic features of the organic matter are consistent with those in chemically primitive carbonaceous chondrite meteorites that experienced parent-body aqueous alteration (reactions with liquid water). The morphology of the organic carbon includes nanoglobules and diffuse carbon associated with phyllosilicate and carbonate minerals. Deuterium and/or nitrogen-15 enrichments indicate that the organic matter formed in a cold molecular cloud or the presolar nebula. The diversity of the organic matter indicates variable levels of aqueous alteration on Ryugu's parent body.