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Meteorites; Interstellar dust; Asteroids; Small Solar System bodies;
Circumstellar matter; 1038; 836; 72; 1469; 241; Astrophysics - Earth and
Planetary Astrophysics; Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Abstract:
We have conducted a NanoSIMS-based search for presolar material in samples recently returned from C-type asteroid Ryugu as part of JAXA's Hayabusa2 mission. We report the detection of all major presolar grain types with O- and C-anomalous isotopic compositions typically identified in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites: 1 silicate, 1 oxide, 1 O-anomalous supernova grain of ambiguous phase, 38 SiC, and 16 carbonaceous grains. At least two of the carbonaceous grains are presolar graphites, whereas several grains with moderate C isotopic anomalies are probably organics. The presolar silicate was located in a clast with a less altered lithology than the typical extensively aqueously altered Ryugu matrix. The matrix-normalized presolar grain abundances in Ryugu are ${4.8}_{-2.6}^{+4.7}$ ppm for O-anomalous grains, ${25}_{-5}^{+6}$ ppm for SiC grains, and ${11}_{-3}^{+5}$ ppm for carbonaceous grains. Ryugu is isotopically and petrologically similar to carbonaceous Ivuna-type (CI) chondrites. To compare the in situ presolar grain abundances of Ryugu with CI chondrites, we also mapped Ivuna and Orgueil samples and found a total of 15 SiC grains and 6 carbonaceous grains. No O-anomalous grains were detected. The matrix-normalized presolar grain abundances in the CI chondrites are similar to those in Ryugu: ${23}_{-6}^{+7}$ ppm SiC and ${9.0}_{-3.6}^{+5.4}$ ppm carbonaceous grains. Thus, our results provide further evidence in support of the Ryugu-CI connection. They also reveal intriguing hints of small-scale heterogeneities in the Ryugu samples, such as locally distinct degrees of alteration that allowed the preservation of delicate presolar material.
