The search for evidence of extraterrestrial life in our Solar System is currently guided by our
understanding of terrestrial biology and its associated biosignatures. The observed …

Abstract Space weathering refers to alteration that occurs in the space environment with
time. Lunar samples, and to some extent meteorites, have provided a benchmark for …

The Hayabusa2 spacecraft collected samples from the surface of the carbonaceous near-
Earth asteroid (162173) Ryugu and brought them to Earth. The samples were expected to …

The near-Earth asteroid 162173 Ryugu, the target of the Hayabusa2 sample-return mission,
is thought to be a primitive carbonaceous object. We report reflectance spectra of Ryugu's …

The typically dark surface of the dwarf planet Ceres is punctuated by areas of much higher
albedo, most prominently in the Occator crater. These small bright areas have been …

The surface elemental composition of dwarf planet Ceres constrains its regolith ice content,
aqueous alteration processes, and interior evolution. Using nuclear spectroscopy data …

Context. The classification of the minor bodies of the Solar System based on observables
has been continuously developed and iterated over the past 40 yr. While prior iterations …

Remote observations of the asteroid (1) Ceres from ground-and space-based telescopes
have provided its approximate density and shape, leading to a range of models for the …

On 6 March 2015, Dawn arrived at Ceres to find a dark, desiccated surface punctuated by
small, bright areas. Parts of Ceres' surface are heavily cratered, but the largest expected …

Organic compounds occur in some chondritic meteorites, and their signatures on solar
system bodies have been sought for decades. Spectral signatures of organics have not …