The Japanese space probe, Hayabusa, has collected samples of the asteroid Itokawa. As scientists analyzed the samples, they have found traces of water from the said asteroid sample.
Finding water contained in the samples from Itokawa has raised a theory as to how the planet could have received water from a similar asteroid that impacted the Earth at a very early point in its history. The said theory was conceptualized by researchers from Arizona State University in the United States.
The asteroid that the team of scientists studied, called Itokawa, Is a peanut shaped asteroid about 1,800 feet in length and 700 to 1,000 feet in width. The heavenly body is observed to circle the sun every 18 months. It has an average distance of 1.3 times the distance of the Earth from the sun. A part of the asteroid's path steps inside Earth's orbit, while its farthest point reaches beyond the orbit of Mars.
The asteroid is said to belong in the S class, which are the most common objects in the asteroid belt.
Ziliang Jin, one of the School of Earth and Space Exploration postdoctoral scholars of ASU stated that the samples they examined were enriched in water as compared to the average for inner solar system objects.
Maitrayee Bose, an assistant professor at ASU, stated that the team's idea of looking for water in the asteroid sample was something new for the Hayabusa project. Bose later revealed that there were no plans to search the samples for water until their group suggested it. The assistant professor expressed triumph over the success of their hunch.
The team reported finding the mineral pyroxene in the terrestrial sample. The crystal structure of pyroxene bears water.
Both JIn and Bose had the suspicion that the Itokawa particles might have traces of water. The scientists wanted to know exactly how much water it carries.
The history of the asteroid Itokawa involves multiple impact, heating, fragmentation, and shocks. This would normally raise the temperature of the minerals driving off the water.
The samples studied were about half the thickness of human hair, on which the team used ASU's Nanoscale secondary ion mass Spectrometer (NanoSIMS). The said apparatus is capable of measuring such tiny mineral grains with impeccable sensitivity.
The results from the NanoSIMS revealed an unexpected result showing that the samples were rich in water. This discovery suggests that asteroids that are nominally dry could harbor more water than the scientific community previously assumed.
