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The new study, led by the Southwest Research Institute (USA), is published as NASA prepares to launch a space mission to the asteroid.
The Hubble Space Telescope, which has been orbiting our planet for three decades in search of unusual cosmic phenomena, has managed to obtain a clearer image of the rare metallic asteroid 16 Psyche.
Named after the goddess Psyche of Greco-Roman mythology, this space rock was discovered in 1852 by the Capodimonte observatory in Naples and still remains a mystery to astronomers. With a diameter of 225 kilometers, Psyche is one of the most massive objects in the main asteroid belt that orbits between Mars and Jupiter.
The most expensive asteroid in history
American scientist Lindy Elkins-Tanton, one of the principal investigators of NASA’s Psyche mission, estimates that if all the metals that make up this rare asteroid could be transported to Earth, it would be worth around 10 trillion dollars. For comparison, the world economy was valued at around $ 142 trillion last year, according to Forbes.
What little is known about this asteroid is that its composition is very similar to the core of the Earth. Scientists believe that the celestial body could be the residual core of a planet just like ours that, for some unknown reason, never formed.
This Monday, The Planetary Science Journal published a new study by planetary scientist Tracy Becker, of the American Southwest Research Institute (San Antonio, Texas), which analyzed the first Hubble ultraviolet observations and offered a clearer view. of the nature of Psyche.
“We’ve seen meteorites that are mostly metallic, but Psyche might be unique in the sense that it could be an asteroid made entirely of iron and nickel“explained the researcher in a statement posted on the institute’s website.
“We were able to identify for the first time in an asteroid what we think are ultraviolet absorption bands of iron oxide. This is an indication that rust is taking place on the asteroid, which could be the result of the solar wind hitting the surface, “he added.
Metallic asteroids are relatively rare in the Solar System, so Becker hopes that a closer examination of Psyche may offer a unique opportunity to learn about the interior of a planet.
The mission of NASA
Becker’s study comes just as NASA prepares to launch a mission to Asteroid 16 Psyche, led by Arizona State University (USA), with the support of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, with the aim of learning more about this. celestial body and understand the origin of planetary nuclei.
NASA planned to launch the Psyche space probe in 2026, but anticipated the date after finding a way to reach 16 Psyche “twice as fast” and cheaper.
Now the mission is scheduled to start in 2022. After being launched in 2023 from the Kennedy Space Center in the state of Florida, the probe will cross Mars and by 2026 will reach the orbit of the asteroid, where it will remain for 21 months, mapping it and studying its properties.
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