Colorized microscopic image of sodium carbonate deposit on Ryugu sample. Credit: KyotoU/Toru Matsumoto ============================================================================== Deposits Found on a Nearby Asteroid Point to Salty Water in the Outer Solar System Scientists have uncovered salt minerals in samples from asteroid Ryugu, pointing to a past with liquid water. The presence of these salts suggests that Ryugu’s parent body once hosted a warm, saline environment before the water vanished. This discovery could help us understand the role of water in shaping planets and moons across the Solar System. Ryugu’s Salty Secret: What Scientists Found Asteroids that pass near Earth often spark concern about...