Researchers Find Evidence Of Hydration On Psyche – One Of The Dozen Most Massive Asteroids

Eddie Gonzales Jr. – MessageToEagle.com – A Southwest Research Institute team, using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope data, has confirmed hydroxyl molecules on asteroid Psyche’s surface. This finding suggests a complex history for the metallic asteroid, providing context for the NASA mission currently en route to Psyche, which orbits between Mars and Jupiter.

Illustration of Psyche . Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU  

At about 140 miles in diameter, Psyche is one of the most massive objects in the main asteroid belt. Previous observations indicate that Psyche is a dense, largely metallic object that could be a leftover core from a planet that experienced a catastrophic collision. On Oct. 13, 2023, NASA launched the Psyche spacecraft, which is traveling 2.2 billion miles to arrive at the asteroid in August 2029.

“Using telescopes at different wavelengths of infrared light, the SwRI-led research will provide different but complementary information to what the Psyche spacecraft is designed to study,” said SwRI’s Dr. Tracy Becker, second author of a new American Astronomical Society’s Planetary Science Journal paper discussing these findings.

“Our understanding of solar system evolution is closely tied to interpretations of asteroid composition, particularly the M-class asteroids that contain higher concentrations of metal,” said Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian’s Dr. Stephanie Jarmak, the paper’s lead author, who conducted much of this research while at SwRI.

“These asteroids were initially thought to be the exposed cores of differentiated planetesimals, a hypothesis based on their spectral similarity to iron meteorites.”

An SwRI-led team used NASA’s Webb telescope, shown in the bottom right corner of this illustration, to confirm the presence of hydrated minerals on the surface of Psyche, a massive and heavily metallic body in the main asteroid belt. These findings suggest a complex history for this interesting asteroid, which many scientists think could be the remnant core of a protoplanet, including impacts with hydrated asteroids. Image credit: SwRI

The Webb data point to hydroxyl and perhaps water on Psyche’s surface. The hydrated minerals could result from external sources, including impactors. If the hydration is native or endogenous, then Psyche may have a different evolutionary history than current models suggest.

“Asteroids are leftovers from the planetary formation process, so their compositions vary depending on where they formed in the solar nebula,” SwRI’s Dr. Anicia Arredondo, another co-author, said in a press release.

“Hydration that is endogenous could suggest that Psyche is not the remnant core of a protoplanet. Instead, it could suggest that Psyche originated beyond the ‘snow line,’ the minimum distance from the Sun where protoplanetary disc temperatures are low enough for volatile compounds to condense into solids, before migrating to the outer main belt.”

However, the study revealed varying hydration strengths across observations, indicating a non-uniform distribution of hydrated minerals. This suggests a complex surface history, possibly due to impacts from highly hydrated carbonaceous chondrite asteroids.

Understanding the location of asteroids and their compositions tells us how materials in the solar nebula were distributed and have evolved since formation. How water is distributed in our solar system will provide insight into the distribution of water in other solar systems and, because water is necessary for all life on Earth, will drive where to look for potential life, both in our solar system and beyond.

NASA’s Webb telescope, developed in partnership with the European and Canadian space agencies, is part of the Space Telescope Science Institute, operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy. The Psyche mission is led by Arizona State University. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is responsible for mission management, operations and navigation.

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Written by Eddie Gonzales  Jr. – MessageToEagle.com Staff Writer