Psyche
16 Psyche is a large, metal-rich asteroid about 220 kilometres across, target of NASA's Psyche mission.
16 Psyche is an asteroid in the main belt, discovered in 1852 by the Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis and named after the Greek figure Psyche. It is about 220 kilometres across on average.
Psyche reflects radar strongly and has a relatively high density, which suggests it contains a lot of metal. Many scientists think it might be the core, or part of the core, of an early planetesimal that lost its rocky mantle in collisions. Others suggest it is a mixture of metal and rock, or a body more like enstatite chondrite or a stony-iron. Estimates of its density have varied, so the exact proportion of metal is still uncertain.
Psyche is classed as an M-type asteroid, a spectral class associated with metal. NASA's Psyche spacecraft is due to arrive in 2029. It may tell us whether iron meteorites really look like their parent cores in bulk.
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Level: Explorer Ages 10 and up