Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41844589›Full record

ArticleNature communications2026

Low thermal inertia of carbonaceous asteroid Bennu driven by cracks observed in returned samples.

A J Ryan, R-L Ballouz, R J Macke, T Ishizaki, A Alasli, J Biele, S A Eckley, C G Hoover, K Jardine, A J King and 46 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

56 authors.

A J RyanLunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA. ajryan4@arizona.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7535-8416
R-L BallouzJohns Hopkins University Applied Physical Laboratory, Laurel, MD, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1772-1934
R J MackeVatican Observatory, Vatican City, Vatican City.
T IshizakiJapan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Sagamihara, Japan.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3094-6716
A AlasliDepartment of Mechanical Systems Engineering, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan.
J BieleGerman Aerospace Center, DLR-RB/MUSC, 51147, Cologne, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7414-829X
S A EckleyAmentum-JETS2, Astromaterials Research and Exploration Sciences, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2692-2164
C G HooverSchool of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0073-2768
K JardineSchool of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0006-3569-2977
A J KingPlanetary Materials Group, Natural History Museum, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6113-5417
C P OpeilDepartment of Physics, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA.
M PajolaINAF Astronomical Observatory of Padova, Padova, Italy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3144-1277
F TusbertiINAF Astronomical Observatory of Padova, Padova, Italy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9290-1679
J J BarnesLunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7151-1014
H C BatesPlanetary Materials Group, Natural History Museum, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0469-9483
E L BergerNASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA.
E B BierhausLockheed Martin Space, Littleton, CO, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5890-9821
C CalvaAmentum-JETS2, Astromaterials Research and Exploration Sciences, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA.
S CambioniDepartment of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6294-4523
F ChengDepartment of Mechanical Systems Engineering, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan.
M DelboUniversité Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, Laboratoire Lagrange, Nice, France.
D N DellaGiustinaLunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
J P DworkinSolar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA.
C M ElderJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9993-8861
J P EmeryDepartment of Astronomy and Planetary Science, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9265-9475
J FreemantleDepartment of Earth & Space Science & Engineering, Lassonde School of Engineering, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada.
R FujitaDepartment of Mechanical Systems Engineering, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan.
D P GlavinSolar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7779-7765
C GonzalezAmentum-JETS2, Astromaterials Research and Exploration Sciences, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA.
P HaenecourLunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
V E HamiltonSouthwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8675-2083
R D HannaDepartment of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2102-8040
L T J HantonDepartment of Earth, Energy and the Environment, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5497-4554
R HarringtonAmentum-JETS2, Astromaterials Research and Exploration Sciences, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA.
A R HildebrandDepartment of Earth, Energy and the Environment, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9926-2059
D H HillLunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
K IshimaruLunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
E R JawinSmithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum, Washington DC, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2341-8819
M K KontogiannisLunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
N G LunningNASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA.
T J McCoyDepartment of Mineral Sciences, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4573-3553
J L MolaroPlanetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5867-9410
M MontoyaAmentum-JETS2, Astromaterials Research and Exploration Sciences, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA.
H NaganoDepartment of Mechanical Systems Engineering, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan.
E W O'NealAmentum-JETS2, Astromaterials Research and Exploration Sciences, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA.
J PlummerAmentum-JETS2, Astromaterials Research and Exploration Sciences, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA.
K RighterDepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6075-7908
N SakataniJapan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Sagamihara, Japan.
P SánchezColorado Center for Astrodynamics Research, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3610-5480
P F SchofieldPlanetary Materials Group, Natural History Museum, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0902-0588
M A SieglerHawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, USA.
S TanakaJapan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Sagamihara, Japan.
T J ZegaLunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
C W V WolnerLunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
H C ConnollyLunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
D S LaurettaLunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2597-5950

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Thermal inertia is used to infer physical properties of asteroid surfaces. The carbonaceous asteroid Bennu has low thermal inertia suggestive of a surface covered in sub-centimeter rock fragments. However, spacecraft observations revealed that Bennu is instead blanketed by boulders of differing physical properties, with the most abundant population displaying very low thermal inertia compared to carbonaceous chondritic meteorites. Here we show that morphologically distinct particles in samples returned from Bennu also possess distinct thermal and physical properties, consistent with their genetic connection to the boulders. Angular particles have higher thermal inertia, greater hardness, and fewer but longer cracks that lead to more efficient splitting, relative to the hummocky particles. A hummocky particle exhibits low thermal inertia at sub-millimeter scales due to fine pores. Tortuous crack networks in hummocky particles further reduce thermal inertia while resisting disaggregation. Samples from Ryugu, a carbonaceous asteroid with similarly low thermal inertia, have cracks like those in Bennu's hummocky particles yet have bulk densities that indicate lower porosity. These observations imply that the low thermal inertia of both asteroids is driven by cracks in rocks resulting from geological processes within the parent body or, more recently, micrometeoroid impacts and thermal fatigue.

Identifiers

PMID41844589
PMCPMC12996602

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