Cosmochemistry: Press releases

The asteroid Ryugu likely formed at the outer edge of the Solar System beyond the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn, as high-precision measurements that determine the ratio of iron isotopes in rock samples from Ryugu suggest. An international group of researchers with participation of the MPS and the University of Göttingen describes these results in the journal Science Advances. more

Earth and Mars were formed from material that largely originated in the inner Solar System. A group of researchers led by the University of Münster reports these findings today in the journal “Science Advances”. They present the most comprehensive comparison to date of the isotopic composition of Earth, Mars, and pristine building material from the inner and outer Solar System. Thorsten Kleine, who led the current study, recently became director at MPS. more

The MPS has a new director. Cosmochemist and meteorite researcher Prof. Dr. Thorsten Kleine will continue the institute’s long tradition of planetary, cometary, and asteroid research and its contributions to international space missions, but will also add new research methods. He will carry out high-precision laboratory studies of meteorites as well as terrestrial and lunar rocks, which reveal tiny differences in isotopic composition. This will provide valuable insights into the formation and evolution of the early Solar System. more