statement<\/a>. \u201cBy simulating the formation of one of its largest craters, we were able to make testable predictions for Psyche\u2019s overall composition when the spacecraft arrives.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cOne of our main findings was that the porosity \u2014 the amount of empty space inside the asteroid \u2014 plays a significant role in how these craters form,\u201d she added. \u201cPorosity is often ignored because it\u2019s difficult to include in models, but our simulations show it can strongly affect the impact process and shape of craters left behind.\u201d<\/p>\n
A more porous asteroid would theoretically feature deeper and steeper-sided craters on its surface. The researchers are hoping that close-up observations by NASA\u2019s Psyche mission could allow them to determine its porosity and therefore infer if its interior is metal clad in rock, or a more homogenous mix of both.<\/p>\n
To explain their line of thinking, the researchers used the unusual metaphor of an abandoned pizza parlor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cooks have long left, but you can look at what\u2019s left behind \u2014 the ovens, scraps of dough, the toppings \u2014 and make inferences about how the pizzas were made,\u201d said coauthor and University of Arizona\u2019s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory professor Erik Asphaug in a statement. \u201cWe can\u2019t get to the cores of Earth or Mars or Venus, but maybe we can get to the core of an early asteroid.\u201d<\/p>\n
The team came up with two possible interior structures.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne is a layered structure with a metallic core and a thin, rocky mantle, which likely formed if a violent collision stripped away the outer layers,\u201d Baijal explained. \u201cThe other is a uniform mixture of metal and silicate, created by a more catastrophic impact that mixed everything together, like some metal-rich meteorites found on Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n
By simulating a series of asteroid belt collisions with objects of varying sizes, they tried to reproduce the known dimensions of 16 Psyche\u2019s craters.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found that an impactor about three miles across would create a crater of the right dimensions,\u201d Baijal said. \u201cThe crater\u2019s formation is consistent with both scenarios of Psyche\u2019s makeup.\u201d<\/p>\n
In short, while we\u2019re only inching closer to answering the question of whether 16 Psyche is the ancient remains of a planetary core, we\u2019ll be ready when NASA\u2019s mission gets there.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the spacecraft arrives at Psyche in a few years, the geochemists, geologists and modelers on the team will all be looking at the same object and trying to interpret what we see,\u201d said Asphaug.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis work gives us a head start,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
More on Psyche: NASA Spacecraft Runs Into Thruster Trouble En Route to Zillion-Dollar Asteroid<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sign up to see the future, today Can\u2019t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Scientists…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":368591,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[85,46,141,145],"class_list":{"0":"post-368590","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-space"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=368590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368590\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/368591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=368590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=368590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}