An overview of the petrography and petrology of particles from aggregate sample from asteroid BennuOPEN ACCESS 

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Harold C. Connolly Jr, Dante S. Lauretta, Timothy J. McCoy, Sara S. Russell, Pierre Haenecour, Anjani Polit, Jessica J. Barnes, Thomas J. Zega, Hisayoshi Yurimoto, Noriyuki Kawasaki, Kevin Righter, Guy Libourel, Marc Portail, Vincent Guigoz, Ashley J. King, Lindsay P. Keller, Kathy Thomas-Keprta, Loan Le, Valarie Tu, Scott A. Eckley, Catherine M. Corrigan, Timothy Gooding, Timothy Rose, Rob Wardell, Soumya Ray, Victoria E. Hamilton, Nicole G. Lunning, Christopher J. Snead, Francis M. McCubbin, Michelle S. Thompson, Rhian H. Jones, Kenneth Domanik, Dolores Hill, Lucas Smith, Iunn J. Ong, Tobias Salge, Natasha Almeida, Catherine Harrison, Helena Bates, Paul Schofield, Ian A. Franchi, Brian H. May, Claudia Manzoni, Andrew J. Ryan, Ronald-Louis Ballouz, Robert J. Macke, Jason P. Dworkin, Charles C. Lorentson, Kimberly Tait, Erica R. Jawin, Hannah H. Kaplan, Daniella N. DellaGuistina, Kevin J. Walsh, Michael C. Moreau, Heather L. Enos, C. W. V. Wolner, Heather L. Roper, Shogo Tachibana

MAPS, Version of Record online: 20 March 2025

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“The OSIRIS-REx mission returned a sample of regolith from the carbonaceous asteroid Bennu in September 2023. We present preliminary in situ investigations of the petrology and petrography of selected particles ranging in size from 0.5 to 3 mm. Using a combination of optical and electron beam techniques, we investigate whole specimens and polished sections belonging to morphologically and visually distinct categories of particles. We find that morphological differences in the particles are reflective of petrographic and petrologic differences, leading to the conclusion that we have at least two distinct major lithologies in the bulk sample. Our findings support predictions from remote sensing, suggesting that the morphological differences observed in the boulder population of Bennu correspond to petrologic differences. Our data provide insight into the geologic activity on Bennu’s parent body and the petrographic framework needed to contextualize the detailed analyses of this pristine asteroidal material.”

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