Scientists studying samples from the asteroid Bennu have found that it contains a remarkable mix of materials — some of which formed long before the sun even existed. Taken together, the findings, described in a trio of recently published papers, show how Bennu has preserved clues about the earliest days of our solar system. “It’s very fascinating to see that …
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Since its discovery in 1999, the near-Earth asteroid Bennu has captivated scientists as a time capsule from the early solar system — and also as a key to possibly understanding the origins of life. To study the asteroid in depth, NASA launched the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to Bennu. The probe collected samples in 2020 and returned them to Earth in 2023. …
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The ambitious mission to retrieve samples from asteroid Bennu and return them to Earth is paying off. Just as scientists had hoped, the asteroid is revealing details about the early days in our Solar System. More than just a simple space rock, Bennu contains not only material from the Solar System, but material from beyond our system. Bennu follows an …
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The near-Earth asteroid Bennu contains stardust that is older than our solar system, as well as organic materials and ices from interstellar space, three fresh studies of the asteroid’s sample materials show. Scientists all over the world have been poring over samples of Bennu ever since material from the asteroid was brought to Earth in 2023, courtesy of NASA‘s OSIRIS-REx …
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Asteroid Bennu, sampled by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission in 2020, is a mixture of dust that formed in our solar system, organic matter from interstellar space, and pre-solar system stardust. Its unique and varied contents were dramatically transformed over time by interactions with water and exposure to the harsh space environment. These insights come from a trio of newly published papers …
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When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The asteroids Bennu and Ryugu may both be fragments of the massive “parent” rock Polana (shown breaking apart here in a NASA illustration), new James Webb telescope data hints. | Credit: NASA Two of the solar system’s most famous asteroids, Bennu and Ryugu, …
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Two of the solar system‘s most famous asteroids, Bennu and Ryugu, may be fragments of a single massive “parent” asteroid that was smashed to pieces billions of years ago, new data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) reveals. If true, the sibling space rocks — which have both recently been visited by spacecraft that successfully returned samples of them …
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