16 Psyche


16 Psyche is one of the most massive asteroids in the asteroid belt. This object is over 200 km in diameter and contains about 1% of the mass of the entire asteroid belt. It is thought to be the exposed iron core of a protoplanet, and is the most massive metallic M-type asteroid. Psyche was discovered by the Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis on 17 March 1852 from Naples and named after the Greek mythological figure Psyche. The prefix "16" signifies that it was the sixteenth.

Symbol

Astronomers created icon-like symbols for the first fifteen asteroids to be discovered, as a type of shorthand notation consistent with older notation for the classical planets. Psyche was given an iconic symbol, as were a few other asteroids discovered after 16 Psyche. The symbol, a semicircle topped by a star, represents a butterfly's wing, symbol of the soul, and a star.
However the iconic symbols for all asteroids were superseded and Psyche's symbol never came into use. With more than a dozen asteroids discovered, remembering all their individual emblems became increasingly unwieldy, and in 1851, German astronomer J.F. Encke suggested using a circled number instead: ⑯. The first new asteroid that was designated in 1852 using this new scheme was 16 Psyche, when American astronomer James Ferguson published his observations.

Characteristics

Mass, size and shape

Psyche is massive enough that its gravitational perturbations on other asteroids can be observed, which enables a mass measurement. The values for the mass of and the density of obtained from a 2002 analysis by Kuzmanoski and Kovačević, of a close encounter with asteroid. The new, high density estimate suggests that 16 Psyche must be composed mostly of metals. As of 2019, the best mass estimate is, with a derived bulk density of.
The first size estimate of Psyche came from IRAS thermal infrared emission observations. They showed that it had a diameter of about 253 km, although it was likely an overestimate as Psyche was viewed pole-on at that time.
Light curve analysis indicates Psyche appears somewhat irregular in shape. There is a pronounced mass deficit near the equator at about 90° longitude comparable to Rheasilvia basin on Vesta. There are also two additional smaller crater-like depressions near the south pole. Psyche's north pole points towards the ecliptic coordinates,, with a 4° uncertainty. This gives an axial tilt of 95°.
Observations of two multi-chord stellar occultations of 2010 and 2014 allow the matching of light curve inversions DAMIT model 1806 that give an equivalent-volume mean diameter of km, and an equivalent surface mean diameter of km. The density of Psyche derived from these estimates – – is consistent with that of other metallic asteroids.
Observations of Psyche with Very Large Telescope's adaptive optics SPHERE imager revealed two large craters, which were informally named Meroe and Panthia, after the twin witches in the Roman novel Metamorphoses by Apuleius.

Composition and origin

observations indicate that Psyche has a dense and largely metallic composition, consistent with it having one of the highest radar albedos in the asteroid belt. Psyche seems to have a surface that is 90% metallic and 10% silicate rock, with % of orthopyroxene. Scientists think that these metals may be mostly iron and nickel.
The NASA Infrared Telescope Facility at the Mauna Kea Observatories reported evidence of hydroxyl ions on the asteroid in October 2016 that may suggest water ice. Since Psyche is thought to have formed under dry conditions without the presence of water, the hydroxyl may have reached Psyche via past impacts from smaller carbonaceous asteroids.
Psyche appears to be an exposed metallic core or a fragment of a metallic core from a larger differentiated parent body some 500 kilometers in diameter. If Psyche is indeed one, there could be other asteroids on similar orbits. However, Psyche is not part of any identified asteroid family. One hypothesis is that the collision that formed Psyche occurred very early in the Solar System's history, and all the other remnants have since been ground into fragments by subsequent collisions or had their orbits perturbed beyond recognition. However, this scenario is considered to have a probability of just 1%. An alternative is that Psyche was broken by impacts, but not catastrophically torn apart. In this case, it may be a candidate for the parent body of the mesosiderites, a class of stony–iron meteorites.
Another possibility is that Psyche may be an endmember of diverse relic bodies left by the inner planet formation. The asteroid's mantle may have been stripped away not by a single collision but by multiple relatively slow side-swipe collisions with bodies of comparable or larger size. What is left is a metallic core covered by a thin layer of silicates, which reveals itself spectrally. In such a case Psyche would be analogous to Mercury but much less massive.

Exploration

No spacecraft has visited Psyche, but in 2014 a mission to Psyche was proposed to NASA. A team led by Lindy Elkins-Tanton, the director of the School for Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University, presented a concept for a robotic Psyche orbiter. This team argued that 16 Psyche would be a valuable object for study because it is the only metallic core-like body discovered so far.
The spacecraft would orbit Psyche for 20 months, studying its topography, surface features, gravity, magnetism, and other characteristics and would be based on current technology, avoiding high cost and the necessity to develop new technologies. On 30 September 2015, the Psyche orbiter mission was one of five Discovery Program semifinalist proposals.
The mission was approved by NASA on 4 January 2017 and was originally targeted to launch in October 2023, with an Earth gravity assist maneuver in 2024, a Mars flyby in 2025, and arriving at the asteroid in 2030. In May 2017 the launch date was moved up to target a more efficient trajectory, launching in 2022, with a Mars gravity assist in 2023 and arriving in 2026.
On February 28, 2020, NASA awarded SpaceX a $117 million contract to launch the Psyche spacecraft, and two smallsat secondary missions, on a Falcon Heavy rocket in July 2022.