A sample of material from the Bennu asteroid were brought back to Earth thanks to the OSIRIS-REx mission, and since these samples arrived, they have been studied by a variety of scientists. In fact, these samples are being passed around the scientific community in order to get as many eyes on them as possible, so that we can learn everything that they have to offer.

A study that was published in the journal Meteoritics & Planetary Science claims that it is likely that the meteorite comes from somewhere that was quite wet. This may be a watery planet, and the meteorite was dislodged after an asteroid impact or other event, but that is just one possibility.

The researchers found magnesium-sodium phosphate, which was a surprise since that was not detected from orbit.

The co-lead author of the study, Dante Lauretta, from the University of Arizona, Tucson commented on this in a statement, saying:

“The presence and state of phosphates, along with other elements and compounds on Bennu, suggest a watery past for the asteroid. Bennu potentially could have once been part of a wetter world. However, this hypothesis requires further investigation.”

The more we can learn about the past of this object, the more we learn about where it came from and how it got here.

Jason Dworkin, a co-author on the paper and the project scientist for OSIRIS-REx at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland commented:

“OSIRIS-REx gave us exactly what we hoped: a large pristine asteroid sample rich in nitrogen and carbon from a formerly wet world.”

If it can be confirmed that the asteroid did indeed come from a planet with lots of water, it would be interesting to find out where exactly it is located. It could be from somewhere relitively close, such as Enceladus, which is an icy moon of Saturn (though this is unlikely), or it could have come from a watery planet outside of our solar system.

Of course, any planets with water on them are of particular interest due to the possibility of life.

Wherever it came from, these samples continue to provide great information about the universe. Harold Connolly is another co-lead author on the paper and a OSIRIS-REx mission sample scientist at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey, and he said:

“The Bennu samples are tantalizingly beautiful extraterrestrial rocks. Each week, analysis by the OSIRIS-REx Sample Analysis Team provides new and sometimes surprising findings that are helping place important constraints on the origin and evolution of Earth-like planets.”

Additional findings will undoubtedly come from the continued study of these samples.

It is incredible what we can learn from relatively small samples from an asteroid.

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