A team of international scientists, including those from London’s Natural History Museum, have analyzed dust collected from NASA’s Osiris Rex spacecraft, which orbited asteroid Bennu 200 million miles from Earth. The study has revealed “presolar grains” – stardust that formed around dying stars billions of years ago. These ancient particles provide a unique snapshot of the early Solar System, more pristine than any meteorite on Earth.
The samples were collected when Osiris Rex briefly touched the surface of Bennu using a robotic arm and returned to Earth in 2023. Chemical analysis has allowed scientists to piece together Bennu’s origins in the cold, dense gas and dust of the early Solar System. The study suggests that Bennu’s parent asteroid formed in the outer parts of the solar system, possibly beyond the orbit of Saturn.
The analysis also found a mix of materials from the outer Solar System, interstellar medium, and high-temperature materials thought to have formed close to the sun before drifting outwards. This discovery provides an extraordinary window into the formation of the Solar System, with evidence of water-driven chemical reactions occurring over 4.5 billion years ago.
Further research at the Natural History Museum has confirmed that the asteroid sample contains building blocks of life and offers a novel type of space rock for study. The samples have proven invaluable in understanding the history of Bennu and the evolution of its minerals, due to their lack of reaction with Earth’s atmosphere.
Source: https://news.sky.com/story/findings-from-asteroid-dust-discovered-200-million-miles-from-earth-revealed-13416000