APOD: 3D Bennu (2023 Mar 11)

[APOD Robot]

3D Bennu

Explanation: Put on your red/blue glasses and float next to asteroid 101955 Bennu. Shaped like a spinning toy top with boulders littering its rough surface, the tiny Solar System world is about one Empire State Building (less than 500 meters) across. Frames used to construct this 3D anaglyph were taken by PolyCam on the OSIRIS_REx spacecraft on December 3, 2018 from a distance of about 80 kilometers. With a sample from the asteroid's rocky surface on board, OSIRIS_REx departed Bennu's vicinity in May of 2021 and is now enroute to planet Earth. The robotic spacecraft is scheduled to return the sample to Earth this September.

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[Sa Ji Tario]

Milanese meat breaded with panko

[Chris Peterson]

De-anaglyphed version for those without glasses or who simply prefer this viewing method. Configured for cross-eyed viewing.
_

[Fred the Cat]

Where does Bennu fit in the lineup

Quite a way before they roundup. Todays is shaped like a diamond in the sky.

[zendae]

De-anaglyphed version for those without glasses or who simply prefer this viewing method. Configured for cross-eyed viewing.
_
de-anaglyph Bennu.jpg

Thanks! It worked perfectly. I always miss these because I don't have the glasses.

[DonB312]

De-anaglyphed version for those without glasses or who simply prefer this viewing method. Configured for cross-eyed viewing.

Thank you, Chris!

I really appreciate you providing these. Whenever an APOD is an anaglyph image, the first think I look for in the discussion is your version for crossed eyes (and/or wide eyes).

[johnnydeep]

De-anaglyphed version for those without glasses or who simply prefer this viewing method. Configured for cross-eyed viewing.

Thank you, Chris!

I really appreciate you providing these. Whenever an APOD is an anaglyph image, the first think I look for in the discussion is your version for crossed eyes (and/or wide eyes).

Me too, and I was able to see the 3D effect just fine after Chris described how to view it! (I had been unable to get my eyes to see these prior to that).

[johnnydeep]

Wow, that "with boulders" link to the NASA YouTube video "Tour of Asteroid Bennu" was unbelievably detailed! Hard to believe it's even real. But, wow!

[orin stepanek]

A piece of Bennu coming for study! I hope we learn a lot from this asteroid!

[Chris Peterson]

A piece of Bennu coming for study! I hope we learn a lot from this asteroid!

The first papers are coming out regarding the analysis of the material returned by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft from Ryugu. The probe collected 5g of particles. From that tiny sample, this is what they've figured so far: (ref: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adh2109)

Together, these studies constrain the history of the Ryugu material. Some of the organic molecules formed in the interstellar medium, so they predate the Solar System. About 2 million years (Myr) after the Solar System began to form, some material in its outer region collapsed under gravity to form a planetesimal, known as Ryugu’s parent body. About 3 Myr later, the decay of radioactive elements raised its internal temperature high enough to melt frozen water. The water reacted with the rock for a few million years, until the temperature fell again. Those aqueous alteration reactions modified the mineralogy and formed additional organic molecules. After about a billion years, an impact on the parent body ejected material into space; some of that rubble reaccumulated under gravity to form Ryugu. About 5 Myr ago, gravitational perturbations caused Ryugu to migrate into its current near-Earth orbit. A lot can be learned from just a few grams.

[johnnydeep]

A piece of Bennu coming for study! I hope we learn a lot from this asteroid!

The first papers are coming out regarding the analysis of the material returned by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft from Ryugu. The probe collected 5g of particles. From that tiny sample, this is what they've figured so far: (ref: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adh2109)

Together, these studies constrain the history of the Ryugu material. Some of the organic molecules formed in the interstellar medium, so they predate the Solar System. About 2 million years (Myr) after the Solar System began to form, some material in its outer region collapsed under gravity to form a planetesimal, known as Ryugu’s parent body. About 3 Myr later, the decay of radioactive elements raised its internal temperature high enough to melt frozen water. The water reacted with the rock for a few million years, until the temperature fell again. Those aqueous alteration reactions modified the mineralogy and formed additional organic molecules. After about a billion years, an impact on the parent body ejected material into space; some of that rubble reaccumulated under gravity to form Ryugu. About 5 Myr ago, gravitational perturbations caused Ryugu to migrate into its current near-Earth orbit. A lot can be learned from just a few grams.

How can they state with any certainty a time frame of a mere 2 Myr after the Solar System formed? That happened 4.5 Byr ago!

[Chris Peterson]

A piece of Bennu coming for study! I hope we learn a lot from this asteroid!

The first papers are coming out regarding the analysis of the material returned by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft from Ryugu. The probe collected 5g of particles. From that tiny sample, this is what they've figured so far: (ref: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adh2109)

Together, these studies constrain the history of the Ryugu material. Some of the organic molecules formed in the interstellar medium, so they predate the Solar System. About 2 million years (Myr) after the Solar System began to form, some material in its outer region collapsed under gravity to form a planetesimal, known as Ryugu’s parent body. About 3 Myr later, the decay of radioactive elements raised its internal temperature high enough to melt frozen water. The water reacted with the rock for a few million years, until the temperature fell again. Those aqueous alteration reactions modified the mineralogy and formed additional organic molecules. After about a billion years, an impact on the parent body ejected material into space; some of that rubble reaccumulated under gravity to form Ryugu. About 5 Myr ago, gravitational perturbations caused Ryugu to migrate into its current near-Earth orbit. A lot can be learned from just a few grams.

How can they state with any certainty a time frame of a mere 2 Myr after the Solar System formed? That happened 4.5 Byr ago!

Models of planetary system formation, I imagine. But I haven't read the papers yet. There's a stack of them.

[johnnydeep]

The first papers are coming out regarding the analysis of the material returned by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft from Ryugu. The probe collected 5g of particles. From that tiny sample, this is what they've figured so far: (ref: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adh2109)

How can they state with any certainty a time frame of a mere 2 Myr after the Solar System formed? That happened 4.5 Byr ago!

Models of planetary system formation, I imagine. But I haven't read the papers yet. There's a stack of them.

Maybe, but it still seems like an impossibly precise fraction of the overall time scale: 2/4500.

[Chris Peterson]

How can they state with any certainty a time frame of a mere 2 Myr after the Solar System formed? That happened 4.5 Byr ago!

Models of planetary system formation, I imagine. But I haven't read the papers yet. There's a stack of them.

Maybe, but it still seems like an impossibly precise fraction of the overall time scale: 2/4500.

I suspect that's because you're viewing it as an interpolation from now, as opposed to from the beginning. Like if I said "you started developing your own antibodies when you were two months old" as opposed to "when you were a fraction of a percent of your current age".

[johnnydeep]

Models of planetary system formation, I imagine. But I haven't read the papers yet. There's a stack of them.

Maybe, but it still seems like an impossibly precise fraction of the overall time scale: 2/4500.

I suspect that's because you're viewing it as an interpolation from now, as opposed to from the beginning. Like if I said "you started developing your own antibodies when you were two months old" as opposed to "when you were a fraction of a percent of your current age".

But that would imply that solar system formation is as well regulated and tightly controlled a process as embryonic or fetal development. Is that really true?

[Chris Peterson]

Maybe, but it still seems like an impossibly precise fraction of the overall time scale: 2/4500.

I suspect that's because you're viewing it as an interpolation from now, as opposed to from the beginning. Like if I said "you started developing your own antibodies when you were two months old" as opposed to "when you were a fraction of a percent of your current age".

But that would imply that solar system formation is as well regulated and tightly controlled a process as embryonic or fetal development. Is that really true?

I think that between dating, computer models, and observations of planetary system formation elsewhere we have a pretty good idea of what was going on for the first few million years of our nascent solar system.

[johnnydeep]

I suspect that's because you're viewing it as an interpolation from now, as opposed to from the beginning. Like if I said "you started developing your own antibodies when you were two months old" as opposed to "when you were a fraction of a percent of your current age".

But that would imply that solar system formation is as well regulated and tightly controlled a process as embryonic or fetal development. Is that really true?

I think that between dating, computer models, and observations of planetary system formation elsewhere we have a pretty good idea of what was going on for the first few million years of our nascent solar system.

In an idealized scenario perhaps, but in the particular scenario that gave rise to our current solar system? Still hard to believe, but I'll take your word for it. (PS - I haven't read all those papers either! )