Members

Asteroids are leftover remnants of planet formation and important clues as to the origin and evolution of the early solar system. Japanese spacecrafts Hayabusa and Hayabusa 2 explored asteroid Itokawa and asteroid Ryugu, respectively, and brought back surface materials on the asteroids. So far, I have studied surface micro-morphologies of mineral particles from Itokawa, in order to understand the history of Itokawa, which is a rocky asteroid depleted in water. I have also focused on space weathering, which refers to the gradual alteration of minerals exposed to the space environment. I found wide-spread occurrence of iron metallic “whiskers” on Itokawa samples, as unique crystal growth caused by space weathering on the airless surface. I expect that understanding space weathering on asteroids will provide insight into the evolution of solids in the interstellar environments, such as the production of interstellar iron metals. In 2021, initial analysis of Ryugu samples has been started to reveal the evolutional history of Ryugu, which is rich in organic materials and water. In this Hakubi project, I will examine Ryugu samples to understand the diversity of materials evolved in the space environments.