Noble gases and nitrogen in samples of asteroid Ryugu record its volatile sources and recent surface evolution

• DOI: 10.1126/science.abo0431
• Publication Date: 2022-10-20T18:00:27Z
• Authors: Ryuji Okazaki; Bernard Marty; Henner Busemann; Ko Hashizume; Jamie D. Gilmour; Alex Meshik; Toru Yada; Fumio Kitajima; Michael W. Broadley; David Byrne; Evelyn Füri; My E. I. Riebe; Daniela Krietsch; Colin Maden; Akizumi Ishida; Patricia Clay; Sarah A. Crowther; Lydia Fawcett; Thomas Lawton; Olga Pravdivtseva; Yayoi N. Miura; Jisun Park; Ken-ichi Bajo; Yoshinori Takano; Keita Yamada; Shinsuke Kawagucci; Yohei Matsui; Mizuki Yamamoto; Kevin Righter; Saburo Sakai; Naoyoshi Iwata; Naoki Shirai; Shun Sekimoto; Makoto Inagaki; Mitsuru Ebihara; Reika Yokochi; Kunihiko Nishiizumi; Keisuke Nagao; Jong Ik Lee; Akihiro Kano; Marc W. Caffee; Ryu Uemura; Tomoki Nakamura; Hiroshi Naraoka; Takaaki Noguchi; Hikaru Yabuta; Hisayoshi Yurimoto; Shogo Tachibana; Hirotaka Sawada; Kanako Sakamoto; Masanao Abe; Masahiko Arakawa; Atsushi Fujii; Masahiko Hayakawa; Naoyuki Hirata; Naru Hirata; Rie Honda; Chikatoshi Honda; Satoshi Hosoda; Yu-ichi Iijima; Hitoshi Ikeda; Masateru Ishiguro; Yoshiaki Ishihara; Takahiro Iwata; Kosuke Kawahara; Shota Kikuchi; Kohei Kitazato; Koji Matsumoto; Moe Matsuoka; Tatsuhiro Michikami; Yuya Mimasu; Akira Miura; Tomokatsu Morota; Satoru Nakazawa; Noriyuki Namiki; Hirotomo Noda; Rina Noguchi; Naoko Ogawa; Kazunori Ogawa; Tatsuaki Okada; Chisato Okamoto; Go Ono; Masanobu Ozaki; Takanao Saiki; Naoya Sakatani; Hiroki Senshu; Yuri Shimaki; Kei Shirai; Seiji Sugita; Yuto Takei; Hiroshi Takeuchi; Satoshi Tanaka; Eri Tatsumi; Fuyuto Terui; Ryudo Tsukizaki; Koji Wada; Manabu Yamada; Tetsuya Yamada; Yukio Yamamoto; Hajime Yano; Yasuhiro Yokota; Keisuke Yoshihara; Makoto Yoshikawa; Kent Yoshikawa; Shizuho Furuya; Kentaro Hatakeda; Tasuku Hayashi; Yuya Hitomi; Kazuya Kumagai; Akiko Miyazaki; Aiko Nakato; Masahiro Nishimura; Hiromichi Soejima; Ayako Iwamae; Daiki Yamamoto; Kasumi Yogata; Miwa Yoshitake; Ryota Fukai; Tomohiro Usui; Harold C. Connolly; Dante Lauretta; Sei-ichiro Watanabe; Yuichi Tsuda
• Keywords: [SDU] Sciences of the Universe [physics]; [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]; 13. Climate action; ResearchInstitutes_Networks_Beacons/MERI; name=Manchester Environmental Research Institute; 01 natural sciences; 7. Clean energy; 0105 earth and related environmental sciences

The near-Earth carbonaceous asteroid (162173) Ryugu is expected to contain volatile chemical species that could provide information on the origin of Earth’s volatiles. Samples of Ryugu were retrieved by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. We measured noble gas and nitrogen isotopes in Ryugu samples and found that they are dominated by presolar and primordial components, incorporated during Solar System formation. Noble gas concentrations are higher than those in Ivuna-type carbonaceous (CI) chondrite meteorites. Several host phases of isotopically distinct nitrogen have different abundances among the samples. Our measurements support a close relationship between Ryugu and CI chondrites. Noble gases produced by galactic cosmic rays, indicating a ~5 million year exposure, and from implanted solar wind record the recent irradiation history of Ryugu after it migrated to its current orbit.