Asteroid Bennu Came From an Unexpected Corner of the Solar System

Six years after NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft reached out and snagged a sample from the asteroid Bennu, scientists may finally have an answer to a fundamental question: Where did this ancient space rock come from?

A new study traces Bennu’s history to a region near the boundary between the inner and outer solar system—a finding that offers a rare glimpse into the chaotic environment where the planets were taking shape billions of years ago. By reconstructing Bennu’s journey through the early…