Scientists using a supercomputer have created 2D and 3D computer models of the pockmarked asteroid Psyche, revealing that it could be the metal core of a failed planet.
Ahead of NASA’s 2022 mission to Psyche, called the ‘Journey to a Metal World’, researchers wanted to gather as much information as possible about the asteroid, including its composition.
By simulating the asteroid impact that the large craters on the surface of the space object could have created, scientists have deduced that Psyche, the largest asteroid in the main belt of our solar system, is actually “Like a big metal sponge.”
“Psyche is an interesting body to study, because it is probably the remnant of a planetary nucleus that was disturbed during the ascension phase, and we can learn a lot about planetary formation of Psyche if it is in fact primarily metallic, “ said Wendy K. Caldwell, one of the lead researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Measuring and modeling the asteroid’s scars improves our understanding of metal asteroids, and helps us better understand how they shape and penetrate the universe relative to their icy and rocky counterparts.
By recreating what they believe to be the exact impact shop, the team was able to make up-to-date guesses about its composition, such as deforming and fragmenting metals to impact in a specific way, especially when compared and contrasted with silicates that are also too common. are found in asteroids.
The results of the team’s simulations support the current theory that Psyche could be made up of large numbers of Monel, a potential alien alloy previously found in the Sudbury crater in Canada.
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