# Bennu asteroid analysis suggests unexpected origins for organics in space

Source: [Space News - Space, Astronomy, Space Exploration](https://phys.org/news/2026-11-bennu-asteroid-analysis-unexpected-space.html) · 2026-11-11 · Space
Page: https://themorning.science/story/bennu-asteroid-analysis-suggests-unexpected-origins-for-organics-in-space-bc0b3b26fa82d44f
Kind: research · Impact: medium

## In brief

- New research reports that samples from the Bennu asteroid and the Murchison meteorite both contain molecules that build proteins necessary for life.
- The research suggests organics in these samples may have unexpected origins.
- Bennu is currently more than 200 million miles (322 million kilometers) from Earth, and the Murchison meteorite fell to Earth in 1969.

## Why it matters

The findings bear on where the molecular building blocks of life come from, which is a central question for astrobiology and the study of extraterrestrial samples.

## Coverage

- [Bennu asteroid analysis suggests unexpected origins for organics in space](https://phys.org/news/2026-11-bennu-asteroid-analysis-unexpected-space.html) — Space News - Space, Astronomy, Space Exploration, 2026-11-11

Tags: asteroids, organics, astrobiology, meteorites, bennu

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Brief generated by AI (claude-haiku-5-5) from the reporting listed under Coverage. Headlines belong to their publishers. The Morning Science – https://themorning.science