Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, September 24 (Xinhua)-- the Japanese Institute of Cosmic Sciences (JAXA) announced that after preliminary cataloging, eight teams conducted a preliminary analysis of rock samples from the Dragon Palace brought back by Hayabusa 2. The Stony Materials Stone Analysis team now publishes its latest findings in the international journal Science.

A research team composed of JAXA and Tohoku University in Japan analyzed the rock samples from Longgong and found that they contained liquid water. The water is "sealed" in the crystal of iron and sulfur, which contains salt and carbon. Although some previous studies have shown that the Longgong rock sample may contain water, it is the first time that liquid water has been directly found.

The key findings of this study include:

Longgong samples which have experienced large-scale reaction with liquid water contain particles formed at high temperature (> 1000 ℃) (such as inclusions rich in Ca and Al). These hot particles are thought to have formed near the sun and then migrated to the solar system layer-200℃, where, together with a variety of substances, form the core origin of the Dragon Palace (Dragon Palace Matrix). This shows that at the time of the birth of the solar system, there was a large-scale mixing of internal and external matter.

The magnetic field information left in the sample indicates that the Dragon Palace matrix is likely to be born in nebula gas that is far away from the sun and impenetrable by sunlight. Mineral composition shows that the asteroid was born about 2 million years after the formation of the solar system and is about 100 kilometers in diameter. The matrix was later destroyed and became what is now the Dragon Palace.

The Longgong matrix is formed in a low temperature area below-200℃, where water and carbon dioxide exist in the form of ice.

It is found that the liquid water in the sample is trapped in the crystal. This kind of water once existed in the mother body of the Dragon Palace and is carbonated water containing salt and organic matter.

Crystals shaped like coral reefs are derived from the liquid water that exists inside the Dragon Palace.

In the mother body of the Dragon Palace, the ratio of water to rock varies between the surface and the interior of the ground, and the rocks deep underground contain more water.

The hardness, heat transfer and magnetic properties of the samples were measured. The results show that the Longgong sample is soft enough to be cut with a knife. It also contains a large number of small magnets, which means that it is a natural hard disk for recording past magnetic fields.

The computer simulates the process from the birth of the dragon palace matrix to its impact and destruction. This is the first time in the world that the hardness and temperature measurements of actual asteroid samples have been incorporated into the simulation of asteroid formation and evolution, providing a more accurate picture of the evolution of asteroids.

The simulation results show that the Longgong matrix accumulated about 2 million years after the formation of the solar system, heated to about 50 ℃ in the next 3 million years, and experienced a chemical reaction between water and rock; the impact that destroyed the Longgong matrix is about 100km in diameter, and its maximum size is only about 10km; the current Longgong matrix is about 10km in diameter. Today's Dragon Palace is made up of matter from areas far from the point of impact.

CTOnews.com learned that Hayabusa 2, a Japanese asteroid sampling mission, was launched in 2014, arrived at the asteroid Dragon Palace in 2018 and collected 5.4g samples, and finally successfully sent the samples back to Earth in December 2020, while Hayabusa 2 continued to fly to other asteroids.

▲ source: Hayabusa 2 project official

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