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Northwest Africa (NWA) 11042 is a heavily shocked achondrite with medium‐grained cumulate textures. Its olivine and pyroxene compositions, oxygen isotopic composition, and chromium isotopic composition are consistent with L chondrites. Sm‐Nd dating of its primary phases shows a crystallization age of 4100 ± 160 Ma. Ar‐Ar dating of its shocked mineral maskelynite reveals an age of 484.0 ± 1.5 Ma. This age coincides roughly with the breakup event of the L chondrite parent body evident in the shock ages of many L chondrites and the terrestrial record of fossil L chondritic chromite. NWA 11042 shows large depletions in siderophile elements (<0.01×CI) suggestive of a complex igneous history involving extraction of a Fe‐Ni‐S liquid on the L chondrite parent body. Due to its relatively young crystallization age, the heat source for such an igneous process is most likely impact. Because its mineralogy, petrology, and O isotopes are similar to the ungrouped achondrite NWA 4284 (this work), the two meteorites are likely paired and derived from the same parent body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1889 the German poet and novelist Theodor Fontane wrote the popular literary ballad “Herr von Ribbeck auf Ribbeck im Havelland.” The Squire von Ribbeck is described as a gentle and generous person, who often gives away pears from his pear trees to children passing by and continued donating pears after his death. Now, 135 years later the rock called Ribbeck is giving us insight into processes that happened 4.5 billion years ago. The meteorite Ribbeck (official find location: 52°37′15″N, 12°45′40″E) fell January 21, 2024, and has been classified as a brecciated aubrite. This meteoroid actually entered the Earth's atmosphere at 00:32:38 UTC over Brandenburg, west of Berlin, and the corresponding fireball was recorded by professional all sky and video cameras. More than 200 pieces (two proved by radionuclide analysis to belong to this fresh fall) were recovered totaling about 1.8 kg. Long‐lived radionuclide and noble gas data are consistent with long cosmic ray exposure (55–62 Ma) and a preatmospheric radius of Ribbeck between 20 and 30 cm. The heavily brecciated aubrite consists of major (76 ± 3 vol%) coarse‐grained FeO‐free enstatite (En99.1Fs<0.04Wo0.9), with a significant abundance (15.0 ± 2.5 vol%) of albitic plagioclase (Ab95.3 An2.0Or2.7), minor forsterite (5.5 ± 1.5 vol%; Fo99.9) and 3.5 ± 1.0 vol% of opaque phases (mainly sulfides and metals) with traces of nearly FeO‐free diopside (En53.2Wo46.8) and K‐feldspar (Ab4.6Or95.4). The rock has a shock degree of S3 (U‐S3), and terrestrial weathering has affected metals and sulfides, resulting in the brownish appearance of rock pieces and the partial destruction of certain sulfides already within days after the fall. The bulk chemical data confirm the feldspar‐bearing aubritic composition. Ribbeck is closely related to the aubrite Bishopville. Ribbeck does not contain solar wind implanted gases and is a fragmental breccia. Concerning the Ti‐ and O‐isotope compositions, the data are similar to those of other aubrites. They are also similar to E chondrites and fall close to the data point for the bulk silicate Earth (BSE). Before the Ribbeck meteoroid entered Earth's atmosphere, it was observed in space as asteroid 2024 BX1. The aphelion distance of 2024 BX1's orbit lies in the innermost region of the asteroid belt, which is populated by the Hungaria family of minor planets characterized by their E/X‐type taxonomy and considered as the likely source of aubrites. The spectral comparison of an average large‐scale emission spectrum of Mercury converted into reflectance and of the Ribbeck meteorite spectrum does not show any meaningful similarities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elmshorn fell April 25, 2023, about 30 km northwest of the city of Hamburg (Germany). Shortly after the fall, 21 pieces were recovered totaling a mass of 4277 g. Elmshorn is a polymict and anomalous H3‐6 chondritic, fragmental breccia. The rock is a mixture of typical H chondrite lithologies and clasts of intermediate H/L (or L, based on magnetic properties) chondrite origin. In some of the 21 pieces, the H chondrite lithologies dominate, while in others the H/L (or L) chondrite components are prevalent. The H/L chondrite assignment of these components is based on the mean composition of their olivines in equilibrated type 4 fragments (~Fa21–22). The physical properties like density (3.34 g cm−3) and magnetic susceptibility (logχ <5.0, with χ in 10−9 m3 kg−1) are typical for L chondrites, which is inconsistent with the oxygen isotope compositions: all eight O isotope analyses from two different fragments clearly fall into the H chondrite field. Thus, the fragments found in the strewn field vary in mineralogy, mineral chemistry, and physical properties but not in O isotope characteristics. The sample most intensively studied belongs to the stones dominated by H chondrite lithologies. The chemical composition and nucleosynthetic Cr and Ti isotope data are typical for ordinary chondrites. The noble gases in Elmshorn represent a mixture between cosmogenic, radiogenic, and primordially trapped noble gases, while a solar wind component can be excluded. Because the chondritic rock of Elmshorn contains (a) H chondrite parent body interior materials (of types 5 and 6), (b) chondrite parent body near‐surface materials (of types 3 and 4), (c) fragments of an H/L chondrite (dominant in many stones), (d) shock‐darkened fragments, and (e) clasts of various types of impact melts but no solar wind‐implanted noble gases, the different components cannot have been part of a parent body regolith. The most straightforward explanation is that the fragmental breccia of Elmshorn represents a reaccreted rock after a catastrophic collision between an H chondrite parent body and another body with H/L (or L) chondrite characteristics but with deviating O isotope values (i.e. that of H chondrites), complete disruption of the bodies, mixing, and reassembly. This is the only straightforward way that the implantation of solar wind gases could have been avoided in this kind of complex breccia. The gas retention ages of about 2.8 Gyr possibly indicate the closure time after the catastrophic collision between H and H/L (or L) chondrite parent bodies, while the cosmic ray exposure age for Elmshorn, which had a preatmospheric radius of 25–40 cm, is ~17–20 Myr. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The near-Earth carbonaceous asteroid (162173) Ryugu is expected to contain volatile chemical species that could provide information on the origin of Earth's volatiles. Samples of Ryugu were retrieved by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. We measured noble gas and nitrogen isotopes in Ryugu samples and found that they are dominated by presolar and primordial components, incorporated during Solar System formation. Noble gas concentrations are higher than those in Ivuna-type carbonaceous (CI) chondrite meteorites. Several host phases of isotopically distinct nitrogen have different abundances among the samples. Our measurements support a close relationship between Ryugu and CI chondrites. Noble gases produced by galactic cosmic rays, indicating a ~5 million year exposure, and from implanted solar wind record the recent irradiation history of Ryugu after it migrated to its current orbit.

The Hayabusa2 spacecraft returned to Earth from the asteroid 162173 Ryugu on 6 December 2020. One day after the recovery, the gas species retained in the sample container were extracted and measured on-site and stored in gas collection bottles. The container gas consists of helium and neon with an extraterrestrial 3 He/ 4 He and 20 Ne/ 22 Ne ratios, along with some contaminant terrestrial atmospheric gases. A mixture of solar and Earth's atmospheric gas is the best explanation for the container gas composition. Fragmentation of Ryugu grains within the sample container is discussed on the basis of the estimated amount of indigenous He and the size distribution of the recovered Ryugu grains. This is the first successful return of gas species from a near-Earth asteroid.