Analysis of millimetre-sized fragments from asteroid Bennu suggests that its parent asteroid coalesced in the outer Solar System from primordial nebular dust and ice and was poor in chondrules, objects common in primitive meteorites. Abundant phyllosilicates with minor sulfides, carbonates and magnetite formed during early alteration by water, with evaporite minerals forming later.
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References
Lauretta, D. S. et al. Asteroid (101955) Bennu in the laboratory: properties of the samples collected by OSIRIS-REx. Meteorit. Planet. Sci. 59, 2453–2486 (2024). This paper details the initial analysis of the properties of returned Bennu samples.
Russell, S. S., Suttle, M. D. & King, A. J. Abundance and importance of petrological type 1 chondritic material. Meteorit. Planet. Sci. 57, 277–301 (2022). This paper describes multiple parent bodies as the sources for petrologic type-1 chondritic material.
McCoy, T. J. et al. An evaporite sequence from ancient brine recorded in Bennu samples. Nature 637, 1072–1077 (2025). This paper reports the presence of salt minerals in Bennu samples, formed during evaporation of a late-stage brine.
Nakamura, T. et al. Formation and evolution of carbonaceous asteroid Ryugu: direct evidence from returned samples. Science 379, eabn8671 (2023). This paper describes the initial analysis of the properties of returned Ryugu samples.
Barnes, J. J. et al. The variety and origin of materials accreted by Bennu’s parent asteroid. Nat. Astron. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02631-6 (2025). This paper reports the isotopic and elemental abundances of the Bennu samples and concludes that the parent bodies of Bennu, Ryugu and CI chondrites formed from a common but spatially and/or temporally heterogeneous reservoir of materials in the outer solar protoplanetary disk.
Glavin, D. P. et al. Abundant ammonia and nitrogen-rich soluble organic matter in samples from asteroid (101955) Bennu. Nat. Astron. 9, 199–210 (2025). This paper details the organic matter in Bennu samples and concludes that Bennu’s parent asteroid developed in or accreted ices from a reservoir in the outer Solar System.
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This is a summary of: Zega, T. J. et al. Mineralogical evidence for hydrothermal alteration of Bennu samples. Nat. Geosci. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01741-0 (2025).
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Composition of asteroid Bennu transformed by aqueous alteration. Nat. Geosci. 18, 819–820 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01765-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01765-6
