ETH researchers unravel the origins of the asteroid Bennu
Keystone-SDA
Half a gram of dust from space has allowed researchers at the Swiss federal technology institute ETH Zurich to unravel how the asteroid Bennu was formed.
In 2023, a NASA probe brought 120 grams of rock samples from the asteroid Bennu back to Earth. Half a gram of this ended up in the laboratory of ETH Professor Maria Schönbächler.
Analysis of this asteroid material is now providing new insights into the early history of our solar system, as reported by ETH Zurich.
Until now, scientists had assumed that Bennu formed late and far out at the icy edge of our solar system – the same region where comets originate. However, the chemical signatures of iron, titanium and chromium in the Bennu dust now paint a different picture.
As the research team reports in the journal Science Advances, the celestial body likely formed around 4.5 billion years ago in a transition zone near the so-called water-ice boundary – and not, as previously thought, in the outer regions of the solar system.
Jupiter plays a role
Researchers suspect that Jupiter played an important role in this formation. According to their findings, the gas giant formed very early on and blocked coarse material, whilst fine dust from various regions of the young solar disc flowed into the transition zone around the giant planet.
Dust mixed and later formed, amongst other things, the precursors of Bennu.
The findings could help us to better understand the formation of the solar system and the planets.
Bennu is rich in water and organic material and could therefore also provide clues as to how the young Earth acquired key building blocks of life.
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Translated from German, reviewed by an English Department journalist.
