Examining asteroid Ryugu in opposition to Hayabusa2: A starkly lit distribution of dust and rock

New analysis of Hayabusa2 data of the asteroid Ryugu reveals much of the surface reflects and scatters light in ways that are consistent with studies of carbonaceous chondrite meteorites in the lab. This research looks specifically at data taken while Ryugu was in opposition to the spacecraft and Sun, and utilizes Hayabusa2's near infrared spectrometer, NIRS3, and Optical Navigation Camera, ONC, measurements and observations. PSI Deputy Director and Senior Scientist Deborah Domingue led this wor...