All articles tagged with #isotope geochemistry
A new study published in Science Advances uses isotope analysis of OSIRIS-REx samples to determine that asteroid Bennu formed near the water-ice line, not in the outer solar system. This finding suggests Jupiter acted as a filter, allowing fine dust from both inner and outer regions to mix and form a hybrid body.
New analysis of 120 grams of regolith returned from asteroid Bennu by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission suggests the body formed in a transition zone near the water-ice line, rather than the distant outer solar system. Researchers at ETH Zurich and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory found that iron and titanium isotopes in the samples are remarkably consistent, linking Bennu to a mixed dust reservoir shaped by early Jupiter. This finding challenges previous assumptions that Bennu originated in the same region as comets, proposing instead that it accreted fine dust from both inner and outer solar system regions, filtered by Jupiter’s gravitational influence.