Organics in Ryugu asteroid (IMAGE)

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Organics in Ryugu asteroid

Caption

This conceptual image illustrates the types of organic molecules found in the sample of asteroid Ryugu collected by Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft. Organics are the building blocks of all known forms of terrestrial life and consist of a wide variety of compounds made of carbon combined with hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and other atoms. However, organic molecules can also be created by non-living processes, such as chemical reactions in asteroids.

Credit

NASA/JAXA/Dan Gallagher

Usage Restrictions

No restrictions.

License

Public Domain

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