Sign In
Learn bits
Science & Tech.
Mahesh

15/12/22 10:55 AM IST

Near-Earth Asteroid Ryugu

In News
  • A sample of a space rock called Ryugu that returned to Earth almost two years ago may hold the answers to the origin of the planet.
Asteriod Ryugu
  • Asteriod Ryugu is a diamond-shaped space rock. The asteroid's name means "dragon palace" in Japanese and refers to a magical underwater castle in a Japanese folktale.
  • Ryugu was discovered in 1999 by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) project, a collaborative, U.S.-based project to catalogue and track space rocks.
  • The asteroid is about 2,952 feet (900 meters) in diameter.
  • Ryugu is orbiting the sun between Earth and Mars and occasionally crosses Earth's orbit, which means the space rock is classified as "potentially hazardous," though the body poses no imminent danger to our world.
Significance
  • These samples could help evaluate the role of Ryugu-like objects in depositing volatile elements to terrestrial planets.
  • Volatile elements such as hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen are thought to have played a key role in forging complex organic molecules — ingredients essential to build habitable worlds like Earth.
  • It can also help to evaluate whether Ryugu-type materials also contributed to the origin of Mars.
Asteroids
  • Asteroids are also known as minor planets.
  • They are rocky remnants left over from the early formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago.
  • Most asteroids are irregularly shaped, though a few are nearly spherical.
  • Many asteroids are known to have a small companion moon (some have two moons).
  • There are also binary (double) asteroids, in which two rocky bodies of roughly equal size orbit each other, as well as triple asteroid systems.
Source- DTE

More Related Current Affairs View All

07 Aug

What is the potential of biochar?

'With the Indian carbon market set to be launched in 2026, CO2 removal technologies such as biochar are expected to play a crucial role. ' Biochar is a type of charcoal rich in

Read More

07 Aug

Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill, 2025

'The Parliament has passed the Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill, 2025, with the Rajya Sabha approving it recently. ' The Bill seeks to replace the Indian Carriage of Goods by Sea A

Read More

07 Aug

Telangana’s Kaleshwaram project

'The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) in Telangana is under scrutiny after the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) reported significant structural damage and design flaw

Read More

India’s First Ai-Driven Magazine Generator

Generate Your Custom Current Affairs Magazine using our AI in just 3 steps