Mineralogy and petrology of fine-grained samples recovered from the asteroid (162173) Ryugu

Samples returned from the carbonaceous asteroid (162173) Ryugu by the Hayabusa2 mission revealed that Ryugu is composed of materials consistent with CI chondrites and some types of space weathering. We report detailed mineralogy of the fine-grained Ryugu samples allocated to our Sand team and report additional space weathering features found on the grains. The dominant mineralogy is composed of a fine-grained mixture of Mg-rich saponite and serpentine, magnetite, pyrrhotite, pentlandite, dolomite, and Fe-bearing magnesite. These grains have mineralogy comparable to that of CI chondrites, showing severe aqueous alteration but lacking ferrihydrite and sulfate. These results are similar to previous works on large Ryugu grains. In addition to the major minerals, we also find many minerals that are rare or have not been reported among CI chondrites. Accessory minerals identified are hydroxyapatite, Mg-Na phosphate, olivine, low-Ca pyroxene, Mg-Al spinel, chromite, manganochromite, eskolaite, ilmenite, cubanite, polydymite, transjordanite, schreibersite, calcite, moissanite, and poorly crystalline phyllosilicate. We also show scanning transmission electron microscope and scanning electron microscope compositional maps and images of some space-weathered grains and severely heated and melted grains. Although our mineralogical results are consistent with that of millimeter-sized grains, the fine-grained fraction is best suited to investigate impact-induced space weathering.

Automated summary

Samples returned by the Hayabusa2 mission from asteroid Ryugu revealed that the asteroid is composed of materials consistent with CI chondrites and some types of space weathering. The dominant mineralogy of the samples is a fine-grained mixture of Mg-rich saponite and serpentine, magnetite, pyrrhotite, pentlandite, dolomite, and Fe-bearing magnesite. In addition to these major minerals, several rare or unreported minerals among CI chondrites were also identified. The fine-grained fraction of the samples is best suited for investigating impact-induced space weathering.