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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Science
Ian Sample Science editor

‘It’s amazing’: scientists analyse 4.6bn-year-old dark dust from Bennu asteroid

Hand wearing black glove holds up sample of black dust
Researchers at the Natural History Museum received 100mg of the material. Photograph: Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London

A teaspoon’s worth of dark dust and granules scooped from an asteroid 200m miles from Earth has arrived at the Natural History Museum in London, where scientists are preparing to unlock its secrets.

Researchers at the museum received 100mg of the pristine material, which at 4.6bn years old dates back to the dawn of the solar system, after Nasa’s Osiris-Rex mission stopped at asteroid Bennu in 2020 and returned samples to Earth in September.

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