Carbonaceous Asteroid Archives

a, STEM high-angle annular dark field (HAADF) + EDS image of Particle 2. A nitrogenous vein (green) is sandwiched between phyllosilicate regions (purple). A circular region shows the location of a selected area electron diffraction acquisition shown in b. The Pt and Si deposition and redeposition layers were created during the FIB processing. b, Selected area electron diffraction shows that the nitrogenous vein is amorphous. c, SEM backscatter plus EDS view of the larger particle before the FIB section was extracted. The substrate is diamond; only N was used for the green channel. The line shows the location of the FIB liftout; the dashed portion of the line is outside the field of view in a. d, EDS spectrum of the CNO peaks of the organic phase along with the fit used for quantification. dep, deposition; redep, redeposition.

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Meteorites & Asteroids, Panspermia, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Sample Return, Status Report

Nitrogen- And Oxygen-Rich Organic Material Indicative Of Polymerization In Pre-aqueous Cryochemistry On Bennu’s Parent Body

by Keith CowingDecember 21, 2025December 21, 2025

Nitrogen-containing organic compounds play key biological roles, and their identification in primitive astromaterials such as meteorites can shed light on the origin of life.

Stitched BF-STEM micrograph of sample A0461-01-FIB02 with the typical observed OM morphologies marked. a – globular OM in various sizes and textures, b – fragmented globular OM, c – irregular OM, and d – diffuse OM between the phyllosilicate layers. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Meteorites & Asteroids, Missions & Hardware, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Sample Return

The Nanoscale Molecular Chemistry Of Outer Solar System Organic Matter In Asteroid Ryugu

by Keith CowingJune 23, 2025June 23, 2025

The analysis of biorelevant molecules in returned mission samples such as from the carbonaceous asteroid (162173) Ryugu is key to unravelling the role of extraterrestrial organics in the evolution of […]

This color view of Ryugu's surface at night was created from images captured by MASCOT using red, green, and blue LEDs for illumination. MASCOT/DLR/JAXA via Planetary Society

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Meteorites & Asteroids, Missions & Hardware, Origin & Evolution of Life, Panspermia, Sample Return, Status Report

Variations Of Organic Functional Chemistry In Carbonaceous Matter From The Asteroid 162173 Ryugu

by Keith CowingSeptember 22, 2024September 22, 2024

Primordial carbon delivered to the early earth by asteroids and meteorites provided a diverse source of extraterrestrial organics from pre-existing simple organic compounds, complex solar-irradiated macromolecules, and macromolecules from extended […]

Impact event that killed the dinosaurs -- NSF

Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Extinction events, Fossils & Paleontology, Impact events, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release

Tracking Down The Asteroid That Sealed The Fate Of The Dinosaurs

by Keith CowingAugust 19, 2024August 17, 2024

Geoscientists from the University of Cologne have led an international study to determine the origin of the huge piece of rock that hit the Earth around 66 million years ago […]

The crystal structure of nickeloan boussingaultite from Orgueil. Isolated octahedra [(Mg,Ni)(H2O)6] 2+ (turquoise), sulfate tetrahedra, (SO4) 2- (yellow) and ammonium tetrahedra, NH4 + (small blue) cross-linked by a network of hydrogen bonds (dashed lines). -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Meteorites & Asteroids, Status Report

Meteoritic Tutton Salt, A Naturally Inspired Reservoir Of Cometary And Asteroidal Ammonium

by Keith CowingAugust 3, 2024August 3, 2024

The lack of benchmark data on the real minerals, native ammonium carriers in Solar System gives rise to controversial opinions on extraterrestrial ammonium reservoirs.

Petrology and composition of dark clasts from CR NWA 14250. Back scattered electron (BSE) images from (A) a large chondrule-containing clast and (B) a smaller clast without chondrules.-- Science

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Meteorites & Asteroids, Status Report

The Nucleosynthetic Fingerprint of the Outermost Protoplanetary Disk and Early Solar System Dynamics

by Keith CowingJuly 10, 2024July 7, 2024

Knowledge of the nucleosynthetic isotope composition of the outermost protoplanetary disk is critical to understand the formation and early dynamical evolution of the Solar System.

Ratio of the cumulative collision rate of comets with the Earth analog to the cumulative collision rate of carbonaceous asteroids with the Earth analog. The cumulative collision rates are reset at the time of the Moon-forming impact; and the ratio is set to 0 when the cumulative collision rates of carbonaceous asteroids (denominator) equals 0. So the dashed line shows the number of collisions with comets relative to the number of collisions with carbonaceous asteroids (weighted by their respective numbers in our simulations) on Earth since gas disk dispersal until the Moon-forming impact; and the solid line shows the same relative number since the Moon-forming impact until the end of the simulation. While cumulative collision rates of comets with Earth are ≃ 4 orders of magnitude smaller than those of carbonaceous asteroids before the Moon-forming impact, they are between 3 and 7 orders of magnitude smaller after the Moon-forming impact. In 30% of our simulations, there is about 1 comet every 103 carbonaceous asteroids colliding with the Earth after the Moon-forming event, which is consistent with the total cometary mass expected during late accretion. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Extinction events, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Impact events, Meteorites & Asteroids, Moon, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Crash Chronicles: Relative Contribution From Comets and Carbonaceous Asteroids to Earth’s Volatile Budget In The Context of an Early Instability

by Keith CowingJune 25, 2024June 25, 2024

Recent models of solar system formation suggest that a dynamical instability among the giant planets happened within the first 100 Myr after disk dispersal, perhaps before the Moon-forming impact. As […]

Secondary electron (SE) SEM images of a CI (a and c) and CM (b and d) simulant pellet before and after irradiation. Panels a and b show images of the fresh material, while panels c and d are of representative laser-irradiated regions. The white scale bar at the lower left side of each panel corresponds to 2 𝜇𝑚 in length. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Meteorites & Asteroids, Space Weather & Heliophysics, Status Report

Laser Irradiation of Carbonaceous Chondrite Simulants: Space Weathering Implications for C-complex Asteroids

by Keith CowingApril 19, 2024

Surfaces of carbonaceous asteroids (C-complex) have shown diverse contrasting spectral variations, which may be related to space weathering.

Simulation CL2. The symbol sizes are proportional to the mass of the bodies. Terrestrial embryos/planets and giant planets are in black, locally-sourced planetesimals are in red, carbonaceous planetesimals are in blue and comets are in dark blue. For the giant planets a fixed size was chosen so an not to fill most of the panels. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Impact events, Meteorites & Asteroids, Status Report

Relative Contribution From Comets And Carbonaceous Asteroids To Earth’s Volatile Budget In The Context Of An Early Instability

by Keith CowingMarch 14, 2024March 14, 2024

Carbonaceous Asteroid

Nitrogen- And Oxygen-Rich Organic Material Indicative Of Polymerization In Pre-aqueous Cryochemistry On Bennu’s Parent Body

The Nanoscale Molecular Chemistry Of Outer Solar System Organic Matter In Asteroid Ryugu

Variations Of Organic Functional Chemistry In Carbonaceous Matter From The Asteroid 162173 Ryugu

Tracking Down The Asteroid That Sealed The Fate Of The Dinosaurs

Meteoritic Tutton Salt, A Naturally Inspired Reservoir Of Cometary And Asteroidal Ammonium

The Nucleosynthetic Fingerprint of the Outermost Protoplanetary Disk and Early Solar System Dynamics

Crash Chronicles: Relative Contribution From Comets and Carbonaceous Asteroids to Earth’s Volatile Budget In The Context of an Early Instability

Laser Irradiation of Carbonaceous Chondrite Simulants: Space Weathering Implications for C-complex Asteroids

Relative Contribution From Comets And Carbonaceous Asteroids To Earth’s Volatile Budget In The Context Of An Early Instability

NASA Establishes Mars Forward Operational Risk and Contamination Evaluation (M-FORCE) Tiger Team to Shape Mars Planetary Protection Protocols

Opportunity to Contribute to NASA DARES Community White Paper on Phototrophic Biosignatures

The Search For Life Elsewhere: Avoiding Hype and Fostering Public Understanding

Panchromatic Spectra of Nearby Low-mass and Sun-like Stars with Directly Imageable Habitable Zones

Alfred: A Flexible, User-Friendly Python Package for Exoplanet Confirmation