The November issue of Meteoritics & Planetary Science (vol. 60 #11) is finally up, on December 11. Oh well:
Harrison, C. S. King, A. J. Jones, R. H. et al. Petrography of phosphates in CI and CY carbonaceous chondrites Pg 2594 maps.70052
Jossé, L. Dionnet, Z. Aléon-Toppani, A. et al. 3D SR-μXCT analysis for lithology detection: Application to Ryugu sample A0159 Pg 2623 maps.70056
My usual disclaimer: everything, every month, is at least a little blogworthy in “Meteoritics & Planetary Science”, hence the name. But ‘Meteoritics, Planetary Science, and the Asteroids/Comets that originated them’ would be too long. Neither can my blog posts be too long, so go read the full issue if you feel like. This is just the highlights.
Phosphates: surely the pleasant surprise of OSIRIS-REx and Bennu. Phosphorus is necessary, both for DNA/RNA, and for metabolism itself. The presence of phosphates- large amounts of it- not only invites but demands study. And scientists have responded; astromaterials of all sorts (but particularly carbonaceous chondrite meteorites) are now being checked for phosphates.
The Jossé paper illustrates why sample return missions are necessary. The Ryugu sample particles are being thoroughly examined using mega-instruments like advanced X-ray beamlines. It is not possible to fly such mega-instruments to Solar System bodies; instead, five grams of asteroid were flown to the mega-instrument. And that’s just one of our mega-options.