Understanding Asteroid 16 Psyche’s composition through 3D impact crater modeling

Caldwell, Wendy Kaye; Hunter, Abigail; Plesko, Catherine Suzanne; Wirkus, Stephen

doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2020.113962

Understanding Asteroid 16 Psyche’s composition through 3D impact crater modeling

Journal Article · Fri Jul 03 00:00:00 EDT 2020 · Icarus

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2020.113962· OSTI ID:1641559

^[1]; ^[2]; ^[2]; Wirkus, Stephen ^[3]

Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ (United States)
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Arizona State Univ., Glendale, AZ (United States)

Asteroid 16 Psyche is the largest M-type (metallic) Main Belt Asteroid (MBA). Radar albedo data indicate Psyche’s surface is rich in metallic content, but estimates for Psyche’s bulk structure vary widely, with bulk density estimates ranging from 1.4 ± 0.3 g/cm³ to 4.5 ± 1.4 g/cm³ and porosity estimates ranging from 30% to 70%. A forthcoming NASA discovery mission will visit Psyche. Narrowing the range of estimated compositions of Psyche prior to mission launch can help to determine the necessary tools for asteroid analysis. Psyche has two large impact structures in its Southern hemisphere, with estimated diameters from 50 km to 70 km and estimated depths up to 6.4 km. In this work, we present results from 2D and 3D hydrocode simulations of the largest of these impact structures. Through quantitative comparison of the simulated crater dimensions with measured values, our models suggest that Psyche is largely composed of porous, metallic material. In addition, to match the crater dimensions, our simulations indicate that the angle of impact was significantly altered from vertical by 45–60 degrees.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC). Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) (SC-21)

Grant/Contract Number:: 89233218CNA000001

OSTI ID:: 1641559

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1693604

Report Number(s):: LA-UR--19-32428

Journal Information:: Icarus, Journal Name: Icarus Vol. 351; ISSN 0019-1035

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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