NASA observed five to 14 feet of asteroid fragments from Vesta scattered around the southern hemisphere and near its center.
The rocks were detected in images from OSIRIS-Rex and appear brighter than the surrounding area in dark rich carbon.
The team analyzed the pieces with an on-board spectrometer and found signs of the mineral pyroxene – a compound known to be found in Vesta.
NASA assumes that the material came from a Bennu origin asteroid that was hit by a fragment of Vesta.
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NASA observed five to 14 feet of asteroid pieces from Vesta scattered across the southern hemisphere and near its center. The rocks were detected in images from OSIRIS-Rex and appear brighter than the surrounding area in dark rich carbon
“Our main hypothesis is that Benno inherited this material from her original asteroid after it hit a parent (part of Vista),” said Hannah Kaplan of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
“Then, when the parent asteroid disrupted catastrophically, part of its debris accumulated under its gravity in Benno, including some pyroxene from Vesta.”
NASA launched OSIRIS-Rex (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Regolith Security Explorer) to the asteroid Bennu in 2018 to closely study the object.
During the spring of 2019, the device captured images showing strange bits stuck in the “pile of rubble” that is Bennu.
The team analyzed the pieces with an on-board spectrometer and found markers of the mineral pyroxene – a compound known to be found in Vesta. NASA assumes that the material came from the original Bennu asteroid that collided with a fragment of Vesta
“ We found six rocks 5 to 14 feet (about 1.5 to 4.3 m) scattered across the southern hemisphere of Beno and near the equator, ” said Daniela Delagustina of the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory in Tucson.
The bits appear brighter than the Bennu Rocks, which NASA notes are about ten times brighter than their surroundings.
After further investigation of the compounds of the individual structures, it was found that they contained traces of the mineral pyroxene found in Vesta.
This mineral usually forms when rock structures melt at high temperatures and because Benno is composed of water-carrying minerals, NASA has been able to rule out the idea of rocks from Benno.
A previous observation determined that it was not uncommon.
The new finding helps define the complex journey that Benno and other asteroids have followed through the Solar System. Based on its orbit, several studies indicate that Bennu was delivered from the inner region of the main asteroid belt
The Dawn spacecraft observing Vesta found dark matter on the walls of the crater, a black rock was seen by the Hayabusa spacecraft on Itokawa and material from S-type asteroids observed by Hayabusa2 in Ryugu.
All of these discoveries show that “asteroids participate in a complex orbital dance that sometimes leads to cosmic mixtures,” as NASA shares in a statement.
As asteroids move through the solar system, their orbits can be changed in a number of ways, including gravitational pull from planets and other objects, meteorite impacts, and even slight pressure from sunlight.
The new finding helps define the complex journey that Benno and other asteroids have followed through the Solar System.
Based on its orbit, several studies indicate that Bennu was delivered from the inner region of the main asteroid belt via a well-known gravitational path that could transport objects from the inner main belt to orbits close to Earth.
NASA launched OSIRIS-Rex (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Regolith Security Explorer) to the asteroid Bennu in 2018 to closely study the object.
Scientists have discovered two inner families of major belt asteroids, the dark and carbon-rich Eulalia such as Bennu.
Eulalia is the father of a family that formed 900 to 1500 million years ago and formed Polana over 2000 million years ago – nuisance is likely a candidate for Benno’s parents.
Dante Loretta, principal investigator at OSIRIS-REx at the University of Arizona, said: “ Future studies of asteroid families, in addition to the origin of Benno, should reconcile the presence of Vesta-like material with the apparent lack of other asteroid types. “.
“We look forward to our returned specimen, which we hope will contain pieces of this interesting rock species.”
This limitation is more compelling given the discovery of S-type material on the asteroid Ryugu.
This difference demonstrates the value in studying multiple asteroids across the solar system.
How will the NASA Osiris Rex mission take samples of astronomical work?
Osiris-Rex is the first US mission designed to return a piece of an asteroid to Earth.
Scientists say that the ancient asteroid could hold clues to the origin of life.
It is believed to have formed 4.5 billion years ago, a remnant of the building blocks of the Solar System.
The spacecraft was launched on September 8, 2016 at 19:05 ET, aboard the Atlas V rocket.
After carefully scanning Bino to characterize the asteroid and locate promising samples, Osiris-Rex will collect between 2 and 70 ounces (about 60 to 2000 grams) of surface material with its robotic arm and return the sample to Earth in a detachable capsule in 2023.
To capture samples on the surface, the craft will hover over a designated area and “descend at extremely slow speed and gently” 4 inches (10 cm) per second.
The spacecraft will also carry a laser altimeter, which is an array of cameras provided by the University of Arizona, and spectrum meters and lidars, which are similar to radar, using light rather than radio waves to measure distance.
