N. T. Kita

An unidentified reservoir of comet 81P/Wild 2 chondrules

Comets, which have been stored in the cryogenic regions for billions of years, preserve key records of the solar system’s formation and the dynamic evolution of planets and other small bodies. Twenty years ago, NASA Stardust mission returned samples from a Jupiter-family comet, 8...

The parent bodies of Ryugu and Ivuna formed before those of other carbonaceous chondrites

Most carbonaceous chondrite (CC) meteorites contain abundant chondrules, millimeter-scale spherical inclusions of previously molten material. Ivuna-type carbonaceous chondrites (CIs) do not contain chondrules, nor do samples of the carbonaceous asteroid Ryugu. CIs and Ryugu share...