Detection of Water and/or Hydroxyl on Asteroid (16) Psyche

Driss Takir, Vishnu Reddy, Juan Sanchez, Michael K. Shepard, Joshua Emery
(Submitted on 4 Oct 2016)

In order to search for evidence of hydration on M-type asteroid (16) Psyche, we observed this object in the 3 micron spectral region using the long-wavelength cross-dispersed (LXD: 1.9-4.2 micron) mode of the SpeX spectrograph/imager at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF). Our observations show that Psyche exhibits a 3 micron absorption feature, attributed to water or hydroxyl. The 3 micron absorption feature is consistent with the hydration features found on the surfaces of water-rich asteroids, attributed to OH- and/or H2O-bearing phases (phyllosilicates). 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. Our results also indicate rotational spectral variations, which we suggest reflect heterogeneity in the metal/silicate ratio on the surface of Psyche.

Comments: 13 pages, 9 figures in Astronomical Journal, 2016
Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)
Report number: AAS02171
Cite as: arXiv:1610.00802 [astro-ph.EP] (or arXiv:1610.00802v1 [astro-ph.EP] for this version)
Submission history
From: Driss Takir [view email]
[v1] Tue, 4 Oct 2016 00:11:09 GMT (1293kb)
https://arxiv.org/abs/1610.00802