If you’ve been keeping up with your space news, you might have heard of an asteroid worth $10,000,000,000,000,000,000. The asteroid (16) Psyche is estimated to be worth an astronomical $10 quintillion because it is believed to be composed primarily of metallic elements, such as iron and nickel, which are the building blocks of our planet’s core. It could even have a hefty amount of gold to go with that.

Unlike most asteroids that are composed of rock and ice, Psyche’s metallic content is incredibly rare and valuable. If we were to mine even a fraction of the metals from Psyche and bring them back to Earth, it could revolutionize the global economy, given the sheer volume and value of the resources it contains.

However, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) suggests the asteroid may need some polishing up. According to the data, the asteroid is rusting.

Despite the resource hype around the asteroid, NASA is interested in 16 Psyche because it offers a unique opportunity to study a planetary core up close. Psyche is thought to be the exposed core of a protoplanet. It may provide a rare window into the early days of the solar system and the building blocks of planetary formation. Essentially, by studying Psyche, NASA aims to gain insights into the early solar system and the formation of terrestrial planets like Earth.

Plus, we don’t fully understand the asteroid, either.

The asteroid’s density, once estimated to be very high, has been revised downward, indicating it might not be as metal-rich as previously assumed. This revised density, along with the detection of some non-metallic spectral features, hints at a more complex structure, potentially rich in silicates.

With new data from JWST, researchers can look at Psyche even closer. This time, they discovered hydroxyl (OH) and potentially water (H2O) on its surface. These molecules may be interacting and combining with the metals on the asteroid, forming rust.

Wavelengths, asteroids, and metals

Different molecules absorb light at specific wavelengths, creating a sort of spectral “fingerprint”. By studying Psyche (or other bodies) at various wavelengths using instruments like the ones on JWST, researchers can detect those fingerprints and see what molecules are likely to be present. Essentially, the absence or presence of specific features at certain wavelengths, as well as their intensity, provides direct evidence of the asteroid’s chemical composition and the abundance of different molecules.

Using the Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) and the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on the JWST, scientists observed Psyche over a range of wavelengths from 1.1 to 6.63 micrometers. These observations revealed the presence of a 3-micrometer absorption feature, typically associated with OH and H2O. So, Psyche’s surface is not purely metallic.

But the thing is, Psyche shouldn’t have water. The fact that it has water already raises several intriguing possibilities about its origin and history.

More data raising more questions

One hypothesis is that Psyche formed beyond the snow line, a region in the early solar system where it was cold enough for volatile compounds like water to condense into solid ice. If true, Psyche may have initially been a water-rich body that later migrated inward to its current position in the asteroid belt. Alternatively, the hydration could result from impacts with other water-bearing asteroids.

However, there’s still a great deal of uncertainty regarding this asteroid. To better understand the asteroid, NASA launched a spacecraft towards the asteroid in October 2023. The mission is slated to arrive at Psyche in mid-2029 if everything goes according to plan.

That mission will provide a closer examination of Psyche’s surface, composition, and structure, offering the potential to test the hypotheses generated by the JWST observations. The spacecraft will carry instruments capable of mapping Psyche’s surface at high resolution, analyzing its mineral composition, and studying its internal structure.

As for potentially mining the asteroid… that’s a completely different problem.

The preprint study was published in arXiv.