Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 29, 2026

Analysis of Minerals Produced by hFOB 1.19 and Saos-2 Cells Using Transmission Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-ray Microanalysis
Published on: June 24, 2018
Oxygen isotopic compositions of asteroidal materials returned from Itokawa by the Hayabusa mission
Hisayoshi Yurimoto1, Ken-ichi Abe, Masanao Abe
1Natural History Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan. yuri@ep.sci.hokudai.ac.jp
Abstract:
Meteorite studies suggest that each solar system object has a unique oxygen isotopic composition. Chondrites, the most primitive of meteorites, have been believed to be derived from asteroids, but oxygen isotopic compositions of asteroids themselves have not been established. We measured, using secondary ion mass spectrometry, oxygen isotopic compositions of rock particles from asteroid 25143 Itokawa returned by the Hayabusa spacecraft. Compositions of the particles are depleted in (16)O relative to terrestrial materials and indicate that Itokawa, an S-type asteroid, is one of the sources of the LL or L group of equilibrated ordinary chondrites. This is a direct oxygen-isotope link between chondrites and their parent asteroid.
Related Concept Videos
Mass Spectrometry: Isotope Effect
Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy: Atomization Methods
Atomic Emission Spectroscopy: Lab
Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy: Lab
Solutions containing organic solvents, such as low-molecular-mass alcohols, esters, or ketones, enhance absorbances by increasing nebulizer...
Isotopes
An element's atomic mass, or weight, is a...
Atomic Emission Spectroscopy: Overview

