An impact experiment was performed on the surface of the C-type asteroid (162173) Ryugu using an instrument called the Small Carry-on Impactor (SCI) carried by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency spacecraft Hayabusa2. Using a small camera separated from the spacecraft, we observed the development of the ejecta curtain formed by the SCI impact in situ. Based on the patterns appearing in the ejecta curtain, we evaluated the physical properties of large boulders and regolith grains on Ryugu. We found that the large boulders on the surface near the SCI impact point had a compressive strength consistent with the previous estimation of a tensile strength based on low thermal inertia observed for boulders on Ryugu. Furthermore, the ejecta curtain consisted of the boulders with a maximum size of several decimeters. Moreover, the filament structure was formed in the SCI ejecta curtain, strongly suggesting that the SCI impact ejecta curtain particles had a size range greater than one order of magnitude; a characteristic size of the regolith grains in the curtain was estimated to be several centimeters. These regolith grains primarily originated from the subsurface layer. We propose three different hypotheses for the geological process that formed the subsurface structure at the SCI impact point consistent with the above observations. Because these hypotheses have different predictions for materials in SCI ejecta, the samples obtained from the second touchdown will be able to constrain which hypothesis is the most likely.

Japanese Hayabusa2 spacecraft has successfully carried out an impact experiment using a small carry-on impactor (SCI) on an asteroid (162173) Ryugu. We examine the size distribution of particles inside and outside an artificial impact crater (the SCI crater) based on the images taken by the optical navigation camera onboard the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. The circumferential variation in particle size distribution inside the SCI crater is recognized and we interpret that major circumferential variation is caused by the large boulders inside the SCI crater that existed prior to the impact. The size distribution inside the SCI crater also shows that the subsurface layer beneath the SCI impact site had a large number of particles with a characteristic size of – 9 cm, which is consistent with the previous evaluations. On the other hand, the size distribution outside the SCI crater exhibits the radial variation, implying that the deposition of ejecta from the SCI crater is involved. The slope of the size distribution outside the crater at small sizes differs from the slope of the size distribution on the surface of Ryugu by approximately 1 or slightly less. This is consistent with the claim that some particles are buried in fine particles of the subsurface origin included in ejecta from the SCI crater. Thus, the particle size distributions inside and outside the SCI crater reveal that the subsurface layer beneath the SCI impact site is rich in fine particles with – 9 cm in size while the particles on the surface have a size distribution of a power-law form with shallower slopes at small sizes due to the deposition of fine ejecta from the subsurface layer. Finally, we discuss a process responsible for this difference in particle size distribution between the surface and the subsurface layers. The occurrence of segregation in the gravitational flow of particles on the surface of Ryugu is plausible. Graphical Abstract