astrogeology Archives

A view of eight sample trays containing the final material from asteroid Bennu. The dust and rocks were poured into the trays from the top plate of the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) head. 51.2 grams were collected from this pour, bringing the final mass of asteroid sample to 121.6 grams. Credit: NASA/Erika Blumenfeld & Joseph Aebersold Larger image

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Meteorites & Asteroids, Missions & Hardware, Status Report

OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Astrogeology / Astrobiology Analysis Update

by Keith CowingFebruary 16, 2024September 18, 2025

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft delivered 4.29 ounces (121.6 grams) of material from asteroid Bennu when it returned to Earth on Sep. 24, 2023; the largest asteroid sample ever collected in space […]

Comparison of peak planetesimal mean temperature, 𝑇¯ peak,pl, for simulations where Ψ = 0.25 in the core model. Similarly to Fig. 8 we see that there is a strong dependence on planetesimal temperature and 26Al enrichment but an extremely weak dependence on 60Fe enrichment and planetesimal temperature. This shows that in the case of the core model 60Fe has a weak dependence. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report

Devolatilization Of Extrasolar Planetesimals By 60Fe And 26Al Heating

by Keith CowingFebruary 14, 2024February 14, 2024

Whilst the formation of Solar system planets is constrained by meteoritic evidence, the geophysical history of low-mass exoplanets is much less clear. The bulk composition and climate states of rocky […]

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Comets and Asteroids, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report, Stellar Cartography

Predicting Interstellar Object Chemodynamics With Gaia

by Keith CowingFebruary 9, 2024July 12, 2025

The interstellar object population of the Milky Way is a product of its stars. However, what is in fact a complex structure in the Solar neighbourhood has traditionally in ISO […]

Porous chondrite dust particle, Wikipedia

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Interstellar, Panspermia, Status Report

The Possibility Of Panspermia In The Deep Cosmos By Means Of The Planetary Dust Grains

by Keith CowingFebruary 9, 2024February 9, 2024

By obtaining the assumption that planetary dust particles can escape from the gravitational attraction of a planet, we consider the possibility for the dust grains to leave the star’s system […]

JWST/NIRSpec integrated spectra and 1σ uncertainties (gray error bars) of Callisto’s leading (purple) and trailing (red) hemisphere, normalized to 1 at 3.82 μm and offset vertically for clarity. The G395H grating has a ~0.1 μm wide wavelength gap, shifting between ~4 and 4.2 μm across NIRSpec IFU’s 29 image slices. Some of the image slices that span Callisto’s disk include wavelength coverage between ~4 and 4.2 μm, which are shown here for Callisto’s leading (bright blue) and trailing (bright orange) hemispheres. All spectral features identified in this study are labeled, with dotted lines indicating their central wavelengths. Features with confirmed compositions have bolded labels, whereas weak features, or those with multiple compositional interpretations, are italicized and followed by question marks. Possible bands and spectral structure at wavelength >4.98 μm may result from data calibration artifacts and are not analyzed in this study. The inset box shows a close-up of the 4.19 to 4.42 μm wavelength range, highlighting the CO2 features we have identified and the different band centers for 12CO2 on Callisto’s leading (4.254 μm) and trailing (4.250 μm) hemisphere, as well as a feature near 4.3 μm that may result from an isotope of CO2 or could be a residual solar line (Appendix A.3). -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Callisto, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Jupiter, Status Report

Revealing Callisto’s Carbon-rich Surface And CO2 Atmosphere With JWST

by Keith CowingJanuary 31, 2024January 31, 2024

We analyzed spectral cubes of Callisto’s leading and trailing hemispheres, collected with the NIRSpec Integrated Field Unit (G395H) on the James Webb Space Telescope.

Using a nanomanipulator and an ultra-fine ion beam, a tiny lamella, about five by ten micrometres in size and only one hundred nanometres thin, is cut out of the meteorite and attached to a sample bar. The scientists can then analyze the organic particles in this lamella under an electron microscope (right). CREDIT SuperSTEM Laboratory, Daresbury, UK

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Impact events, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release

Cosmic Building Blocks Of Life Discovered Through An Electron Microscope

by Keith CowingJanuary 30, 2024January 30, 2024

Meteorites are fragments of asteroids which find their way to Earth as shooting stars. These cosmic sediments have frozen the primordial soup from which our solar system emerged – preserving […]

Partial pressures of most abundant species in the vapor calculated using the Equilibrium method (left plot, same as Fig B.3 from Charnoz et al. (2023)) and the Sum method (right plot, methodology of Zilinskas et al. (2023); Piette et al. (2023)), for different monoatomic hydrogen pressure P0 H when the atmosphere is at equilibrium with the magma ocean at T = 3000 K and hydrogen is not in equilibrium with the magma ocean. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Status Report

Hydrogenated Atmospheres Of Lava Planets: Atmospheric Structure And Emission Spectra

by Keith CowingJanuary 29, 2024May 11, 2024

Hot rocky super-Earths are thought to be sufficiently irradiated by their host star to melt their surface and thus allow for long-lasting magma oceans.

A melt splash discovered on a Ryugu sample surface. The melt splash shows a round shape. - Tohoku University

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Impact events, Press Release

Records Of Cometary Dust Hitting Asteroid Ryugu

by Keith CowingJanuary 24, 2024January 23, 2024

Ryugu is a near-Earth asteroid that gained significant attention when the Japanese Hayabusa2 mission collected samples and returned them to Earth. These samples have proven to offer a treasure trove […]

A top-down view of the OSIRIS-REx Touch-and-Go-Sample-Acquisition-Mechanism (TAGSAM) head with the lid removed, revealing the remainder of the asteroid sample inside. -- NASA

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Missions & Hardware, Status Report

Sample Return Update: OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Revealed

by Keith CowingJanuary 22, 2024January 22, 2024

Erika Blumenfeld, creative lead for the Advanced Imaging and Visualization of Astromaterials (AIVA) and Joe Aebersold, project management lead, captured this picture using manual high-resolution precision photography and a semi-automated […]

Principal component values for all six meteorites studied at different grain sizes are shown with the “α-line” boundary from DeMeo et al. (2009) that separates the S- and C/X-complexes. Grain size variations can be seen by using the dotted line interconnecting PC values of measurements of the same meteorite at different grain sizes. Marker size increases with grain size which includes values of 45-90 µm, 90-150 µm, 150-300 µm, 300-500 µm, and 500-1,000 µm. The Lunar-style space weathering trend from Binzel et al. (2019) is shown with blue dots and a corresponding arrow showing the direction of increasing space weathering. The carbonaceous space weathering trend from Lantz et al. (2018) is shown with the brown arrow indicating that the measured weathering trend would move in either direction depending on the meteorite composition. It also shows that differentiating between space weathering and grain size effects would be challenging in PC space. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Meteorites & Asteroids, Status Report

Grain Size Effects on UV-MIR (0.2-14 micron) Spectra of Carbonaceous Chondrite Groups

by Keith CowingJanuary 22, 2024January 22, 2024

Carbonaceous chondrites are among the most important meteorite types and have played a vital role in deciphering the origin and evolution of our solar system.

astrogeology

OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Astrogeology / Astrobiology Analysis Update

Devolatilization Of Extrasolar Planetesimals By 60Fe And 26Al Heating

Predicting Interstellar Object Chemodynamics With Gaia

The Possibility Of Panspermia In The Deep Cosmos By Means Of The Planetary Dust Grains

Revealing Callisto’s Carbon-rich Surface And CO2 Atmosphere With JWST

Cosmic Building Blocks Of Life Discovered Through An Electron Microscope

Hydrogenated Atmospheres Of Lava Planets: Atmospheric Structure And Emission Spectra

Records Of Cometary Dust Hitting Asteroid Ryugu

Sample Return Update: OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Revealed

Grain Size Effects on UV-MIR (0.2-14 micron) Spectra of Carbonaceous Chondrite Groups

On The Foundations Of Anthropic Reasoning: Implications For Life Across The Universe

NASA Curation Community Conversation Webinar

The Atmospheric Chemistry and Surface Interactions on Mars (ACSIOM) Workshop 2025

An ALMA View On Molecular Complexity: Water, Methanol, And Methyl Formate In The HD 100546 And IRS 48 Disks

The Occurrence of Circumbinary Planets Around TESS M-dwarf Eclipsing Binaries