Soluble organic molecules in samples of the carbonaceous asteroid (162173) Ryugu

Creators: Naraoka, Hiroshi¹; Takano, Yoshinori²; Dworkin, Jason P.³; Oba, Yasuhiro⁴; Hamase, Kenji¹; Furusho, Aogu¹; Ogawa, Nanako O.²; Hashiguchi, Minako⁵; Fukushima, Kazuhiko⁵; Aoki, Dan⁵; Schmitt-Kopplin, Philippe^{6, 7, 8}; Aponte, José C.³; Parker, Eric T.³; Glavin, Daniel P.³; McLain, Hannah L.^{3, 9}; Elsila, Jamie E.³; Graham, Heather V.³; Eiler, John M.¹⁰; Orthous-Daunay, Francois-Regis¹¹; Wolters, Cédric¹¹; Isa, Junko^{12, 13}; Vuitton, Véronique¹¹; Thissen, Roland¹⁴; Sakai, Saburo²; Yoshimura, Toshihiro²; Koga, Toshiki²; Ohkouchi, Naohiko²; Chikaraishi, Yoshito⁴; Sugahara, Haruna¹⁵; Mita, Hajime¹⁶; Furukawa, Yoshihiro¹⁷; Hertkorn, Norbert⁶; Ruf, Alexander^{18, 19, 20}; Yurimoto, Hisayoshi⁴; Nakamura, Tomoki¹⁷; Noguchi, Takaaki²¹; Okazaki, Ryuji¹; Yabuta, Hikaru²²; Sakamoto, Kanako¹⁵; Tachibana, Shogo^{15, 23}; Connolly, Harold C.²⁴; Lauretta, Dante S.²⁵; Abe, Masanao^{15, 26}; Yada, Toru¹⁵; Nishimura, Masahiro¹⁵; Yogata, Kasumi¹⁵; Nakato, Aiko¹⁵; Yoshitake, Miwa¹⁵; Suzuki, Ayako²⁷; Miyazaki, Akiko¹⁵; Furuya, Shizuho²³; Hatakeda, Kentaro²⁷; Soejima, Hiromichi²⁷; Hitomi, Yuya²⁷; Kumagai, Kazuya²⁷; Usui, Tomohiro¹⁵; Hayashi, Tasuku¹⁵; Yamamoto, Daiki¹⁵; Fukai, Ryota¹⁵; Kitazato, Kohei²⁸; Sugita, Seiji^{13, 23}; Namiki, Noriyuki^{26, 29}; Arakawa, Masahiko³⁰; Ikeda, Hitoshi¹⁵; Ishiguro, Masateru³¹; Hirata, Naru²⁷; Wada, Koji¹³; Ishihara, Yoshiaki³²; Noguchi, Rina³³; Morota, Tomokatsu²³; Sakatani, Naoya³⁴; Matsumoto, Koji^{26, 29}; Senshu, Hiroki¹³; Honda, Rie³⁵; Tatsumi, Eri³⁶; Yokota, Yasuhiro¹⁵; Honda, Chikatoshi²⁸; Michikami, Tatsuhiro³⁶; Matsuoka, Moe¹⁵; Miura, Akira¹⁵; Noda, Hirotomo^{26, 29}; Yamada, Tetsuya¹⁵; Yoshihara, Keisuke¹⁵; Kawahara, Kosuke¹⁵; Ozaki, Masanobu^{15, 26}; Iijima, Yu-ichi¹⁵; Yano, Hajime^{15, 26}; Hayakawa, Masahiko¹⁵; Iwata, Takahiro¹⁵; Tsukizaki, Ryudo¹⁵; Sawada, Hirotaka¹⁵; Hosoda, Satoshi¹⁵; Ogawa, Kazunori³²; Okamoto, Chisato³⁰; Hirata, Naoyuki²⁹; Shirai, Kei²⁹; Shimaki, Yuri¹⁵; Yamada, Manabu¹³; Okada, Tatsuaki^{15, 23}; Yamamoto, Yukio^{15, 26}; Takeuchi, Hiroshi^{15, 26}; Fujii, Atsushi¹⁵; Takei, Yuto¹⁵; Yoshikawa, Kento³²; Mimasu, Yuya¹⁵; Ono, Go³²; Ogawa, Naoko¹⁵; Kikuchi, Shota^{13, 29}; Nakazawa, Satoru¹⁵; Terui, Fuyuto³⁷; Tanaka, Satoshi^{15, 26}; Saiki, Takanao¹⁵; Yoshikawa, Makoto^{15, 26}; Watanabe, Sei-ichiro⁵; Tsuda, Yuichi¹⁵

1. Kyushu University
2. Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
3. Goddard Space Flight Center
4. Hokkaido University
5. Nagoya University
6. Helmholtz Munich, Analytical BioGeoChemistry, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany.
7. Technical University of Munich
8. Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics
9. Catholic University of America
10. California Institute of Technology
11. Délégation Alpes
12. Tokyo Institute of Technology
13. Chiba Institute of Technology
14. French National Centre for Scientific Research
15. Institute of Space and Astronautical Science
16. Fukuoka Institute of Technology
17. Tohoku University
18. Physics of Ionic and Molecular Interactions
19. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
20. Excellence Cluster Origins
21. Kyoto University
22. Hiroshima University
23. University of Tokyo
24. Rowan University
25. University of Arizona
26. The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI
27. Marine Works Japan Ltd., Yokosuka 237-0063, Japan.
28. University of Aizu
29. National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
30. Kobe University
31. Seoul National University
32. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
33. Niigata University
34. Rikkyo University
35. Ehime University
36. Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
37. Kanagawa Institute of Technology

Abstract

The Hayabusa2 spacecraft collected samples from the surface of the carbonaceous near-Earth asteroid (162173) Ryugu and brought them to Earth. The samples were expected to contain organic molecules, which record processes that occurred in the early Solar System. We analyzed organic molecules extracted from the Ryugu surface samples. We identified a variety of molecules containing the atoms CHNOS, formed by methylation, hydration, hydroxylation, and sulfurization reactions. Amino acids, aliphatic amines, carboxylic acids, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and nitrogen-heterocyclic compounds were detected, which had properties consistent with an abiotic origin. These compounds likely arose from an aqueous reaction on Ryugu's parent body and are similar to the organics in Ivuna-type meteorites. These molecules can survive on the surfaces of asteroids and be transported throughout the Solar System.

Copyright and License

© 2023 the authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original US government works. https://www.science.org/about/science-licenses-journal-article-reuse.

Acknowledgement

The Hayabusa2 project has been led by JAXA (the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) in collaboration with DLR (the German Space Center) and CNES (the French Space Center) and is supported by NASA and ASA (the Australian Space Agency). We thank all members of the Hayabusa2 project for their technical and scientific contributions.

Funding

This work was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) under KAKENHI grants JP20H00202 (H.Na.), JP20H05846 (H.Na.), JP20K20485 (S.Sa.), JP20K14549 (H.Su.), JP21J00504 (T.K.), JP21H01203 (N.O.O.), JP21H04501 (Y.O.), and JP21KK0062 (Y.T.). J.P.D., J.C.A., E.T.P., D.P.G., H.L.M., J.E.E., and H.V.G. were supported by NASA under the Consortium for Hayabusa2 Analysis of Organic Solubles. F.-R.O.D. was supported by CNES (grant BC U53-6336-4500068838). J.M.E. was supported by NSF Graduate Research Fellowship “Emerging Worlds” (grant 18-EW18 2-0084).

Contributions

H.Na., Y.T., and J.P.D. designed the research. Y.T., N.O.O., P.S.-K., K.Ham., A.F., J.C.A., E.T.P., D.P.G., H.L.M., Y.O., T.K., M.Has, K.F., D.A., F.-R.O.-D., C.W., J.I., S.Sa., T.Yo., J.M.E., N.He., J.P.D., and H.Na. conducted experiments and analyzed data in cooperation with T.Yad., H.Yu., H.Yab., T.Nak., Y.C., N.Oh., H.Su., H.M., Y.F., A.R., V.V., R.T., H.C.C., and D.S.L. H.Na., Y.T., J.P.D., P.S.-K., H.V.G, J.E.E., K.Ham., A.F., Y.O., M.Has., F.-R.O.-D., J.I., and S.Tac. wrote the paper. M.Ab., T.Yad., M.N., K.Yog., A.N., M.Y., A.S., A.Miy., S.F., K.Hat., H.So., Y.H., K.Ku., T.U., T.H., D.Y., and R.F. curated samples. K.Ki., S.Su., N.N., M.Ar., H.I., M.I., Nar.H., K.W., Y.I., R.N., T.Mo., N.S., K.M., H.Su., R.H., E.T., Y.Y., C.H., T.Mi., M.M., A.Miu, H.No., T.Yam., K.Yos., K.K., M.O., Y.I., H.Yan, M.H., T.I., R.T., H.Sa., S.H., K.O., C.O., Nao.H., K.S., Y.S., M.Y., T.O., Y.Y., H.T., A.F., T.T., K.Yog., Y.M., G.O., N.Og., S.K., S.N., F.T., S.Tan., T.S., M.Y., S.W., and Y.T. contributed to the sample collection at Ryugu. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

Data Availability

The mass spectra and chromatographic data used in this study are available at the JAXA Data Archives and Transmission System (DARTS) at https://data.darts.isas.jaxa.jp/pub/hayabusa2/paper/sample/Naraoka_2022/ (73). Other data from the mission are available at the DARTS archive https://www.darts.isas.jaxa.jp/planet/project/hayabusa2/ and on the Small Bodies Node of the NASA Planetary Data System https://pds-smallbodies.astro.umd.edu/data_sb/missions/hayabusa2/. Material was allocated by the JAXA Astromaterials Science Research Group; the sample catalog is available at https://darts.isas.jaxa.jp/curation/hayabusa2/, and distribution for analysis is through an Announcement of Opportunity available at https://jaxa-ryugu-sample-ao.net. The samples of Ryugu used in this study were mostly consumed during the analysis, with the remaining materials returned to JAXA.

Supplemental Material

Supplemental Materials (PDF)

Materials and Methods

Supplementary Text

Figs. S1 to S8

Tables S1 to S5

References (74–101)

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