NEW data!! Nov 2016!! Water on asteroid Psyche!! Astronomers and scientists baffled!!

NOV. 2: Psyche is thought to be the largest metallic asteroid in the Solar System, at 300 km (186 miles) across and likely consists of almost pure nickel-iron metal. Scientists had thought Psyche was made up of the leftover core of a protoplanet that was mostly destroyed by impacts billions of years ago, but they may now be rethinking that.

“The detection of a 3 micron hydration absorption band on Psyche suggests that this asteroid may not be metallic core, or it could be a metallic core that has been impacted by carbonaceous material over the past 4.5 Gyr,” the team said in their paper.

While previous observations of Psyche had shown no evidence for water on its surface, new observations with the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility found evidence for volatiles such as water or hydroxyl on the asteroid’s surface. Hydroxyl is a free radical consisting of one hydrogen atom bound to one oxygen atom.

“We did not expect a metallic asteroid like Psyche to be covered by water and/or hydroxyl,” said Vishnu Reddy, from the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, a co-author of the new paper about Psyche. “Metal-rich asteroids like Psyche are thought to have formed under dry conditions without the presence of water or hydroxyl, so we were puzzled by our observations at first.”


[link to www.universetoday.com]




video caption, Nov 29, 2016: Scientists today are expressing their astonishment over the detection of water-deposits on an asteroid that is thought to be pure metal. The asteroid is called 16 Psyche, and it’s described as the largest metallic asteroid in the solar system. In previous episodes, Dr. Franklin Anariba has proposed that electrochemical processes may be responsible for the detection of water molecules at comets. Today, he offers his analysis of this surprising discovery.

Last Edited by Digital mix guy Spock on 11/30/2016 03:04 PM