--Basic Summary:--
16 Psyche is the largest M-Type asteroid discovered so far. This means it has more metal than the other types of asteroids. This asteroid is estimated to be worth a lot due to its metal content. Due to high interest, NASA will send a spacecraft to study it in the future.
--Discovery:--
Psyche was only the 16th asteroid to be found (as you can tell from its name) and was discovered by an Italian astronomer by the name of Annibale de Gasparis. It was discovered on March 17, 1852. He named the asteroid after Psyche, who was the Greek goddess of the soul and was married to Eros, the god of love.
--How 16 Psyche was Formed:--
A scenario of how the asteroid was formed, was that it was a planetesimal that was stripped of its outer layers and all that remained was the planetesimal’s core which is now Psyche. This process might have happened through violent hits from other materials, which was very common when the solar system was forming (just look at Earth and its moon). Soon, the core of that planetesimal cooled down, leaving us with 16 Psyche.
--Other Hypothesis for Origin:--
Another hypothesis for the origin of Psyche is that it was disrupted and gravitationally re-accreted (attached) into a mix of metal and silicates.
Also, another hypothesis is that it may be a differentiated object but has experienced ferrovolcanism (iron volcanos).
--Basic Statistics:--
Dimensions: 173144117 miles (279232189 km)
Diameter: 140 miles (226 kilometers) if Psyche was a perfect sphere, about the length of the state of Massachusetts minus the Cape Cod area
Density: 3,400–4,100 kg/m³
Surface Area: Estimated 64,000 sq. miles (165,800 sq. kilometers)
Orbit: approximately 2.5–3.3 AU from the Sun
Psyche is/has:
An eccentricity of 0.140
An orbit period of 4.99 Earth years
A total mass of 2.72*1019 kilograms
An M-Type asteroid (contains more metal than most other asteroids)
--Future Missions to 16 Psyche:--
There will be a mission to Psyche. It was planned to launch in 2022 but got delayed until later. These are some of the instruments that are on the spacecraft:
Multispectral Imager: to identify the composition, gather data on its geology, and map the topography.
Magnetometer: to measure the magnetic field
Gamma Ray and Neutron Spectrometer: unmasks the chemical elements on Psyche’s surface like iron, nickel, etc.
--Metals on Psyche:--
The metals on Psyche are estimated to be worth around $10 quintillion in metal values right now.
But, some studies have shown that if Psyche was made mostly out of metal, it would be highly porous, meaning that it may have holes everywhere.
Something else may be that there is only iron on the top. This may be due to ferrovolcanism on its surface.
Thus, it may actually be worth less than what is actually estimated.