An article published in the journal “Meteoritics & Planetary Science” reports the results of the preliminary analysis of the samples of material from asteroid Bennu brought back to Earth by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx space probe. A team of researchers conducted morphological and chemical analyzes of the samples, finding a lot of carbon and nitrogen together with organic compounds, all very important components for life forms of the Earth’s type.

The surprise came from the discovery of magnesium-sodium phosphate, which wasn’t detected by the instruments aboard OSIRIS-REx. This compound forms in water-rich environments and suggests that Bennu may be a fragment of a primordial world that had an ocean. The researchers mentioned Enceladus, Saturn’s moon with a subterranean ocean where sodium phosphate was found, and suggest a possible link to Bennu.