NASA's target Psyche seen in new light as map details asteroid's dynamic metal history

NASA is developing a new mission which will be launched later this year to the asteroid Psyche, a heavy metal-rich asteroid lingering in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Under this mission, the US space agency will launch a probe named after the asteroid, which is believed to be a planetary core, to examine the object for about two years. Ahead of the launch on September 20, experts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed the most detailed map of the asteroid and its metal contents. 

New map reveals dynamic Psyche history

According to the paper published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, the map was created using observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in northern Chile. The experts said that this map presents the most detailed surface properties to date as Psyche's varied surface suggests a dynamic past that included eruptions of metallic lava and strong impacts the asteroid must have endured. 

In the video, the map on the left shows the surface properties on Psyche, from sandy areas (purple/low) to rocky areas (yellow/high) whereas the one on the right shows metal abundances on Psyche, from low (purple) to high (yellow). Using observations by ALMA, the experts confirmed that Psyche is rich in metals, but the abundance of metals and silicates varies across its surface. Due to this, scientists also believe that the asteroid had a silicate-rich mantle that got eroded after multiple planetary collisions. 

Interestingly, they also found that the material at the bottom of Psyche's crater changes temperature much faster than the material along the rim when the asteroid rotates. According to the experts, this suggests that the crater's bottom is covered in "ponds" of fine-grained material whereas the rim is made of rocky materials which heat up slowly. "Psyche’s surface is very heterogeneous", lead author Saverio Cambioni said as per MIT News. "It’s an evolved surface, and these maps confirm that metal-rich asteroids are interesting, enigmatic worlds. It’s another reason to look forward to the Psyche mission going to the asteroid."

About NASA's Psyche mission

Asteroid 16 Psyche, located in the asteroid belt, is rich in metals such as nickel and iron, and a spacecraft will be launched with the intention to examine it. NASA says that the spacecraft will spend about 21 months orbiting the asteroid and will map the space rock to provide insights into how planets with a metal core, including the Earth, formed.

"One of the primary goals of the Psyche mission is to study the composition of the asteroid surface using its gamma rays and neutron spectrometer and a color imager," Simone Marchi, a co-investigator on NASA’s Psyche mission said in a statement. "So, the possible presence of compositional heterogeneities is something that the Psyche Science Team is eager to study more."