Issue |
A&A
Volume 638, June 2020
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | L15 | |
Number of page(s) | 9 | |
Section | Letters to the Editor | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202038100 | |
Published online | 29 June 2020 |
Letter to the Editor
Asteroid (16) Psyche’s primordial shape: A possible Jacobi ellipsoid⋆,⋆⋆
1
Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, CNES, Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille, Marseille, France
e-mail: marin.ferrais@lam.fr
2
IMCCE, CNRS, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Université, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
3
Institute of Astronomy, Charles University, Prague, V Holešovičkách 2, 18000 Prague 8, Czech Republic
4
Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, France
5
SETI Institute, Carl Sagan Center, 189 Bernado Avenue, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA
6
Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, MIT, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
7
Mathematics and Statistics, Tampere University, 33720 Tampere, Finland
8
Astronomical Institute of the Romanian Academy, 5-Cuţitul de Argint, 040557 Bucharest, Romania
9
Astronomical Observatory Institute, Faculty of Physics, Adam Mickiewicz University, Słoneczna 36, 60-286 Poznań, Poland
10
Institute of Physics, University of Szczecin, Wielkopolska 15, 70-453 Szczecin, Poland
11
Space sciences, Technologies and Astrophysics Research Institute, Université de Liège, Allée du 6 Août 17, 4000 Liège, Belgium
12
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
13
European Space Agency, ESTEC – Scientific Support Office, Keplerlaan 1, Noordwijk 2200 AG, The Netherlands
14
TMT Observatory, 100 W. Walnut Street, Suite 300, Pasadena, CA 91124, USA
15
Departamento de Fisica, Ingeniería de Sistemas y Teoría de la Señal, Universidad de Alicante, Alicante, Spain
16
Institut de Ciències del Cosmos (ICCUB), Universitat de Barcelona (IEEC-UB), Martí Franqués 1, E08028 Barcelona, Spain
17
European Southern Observatory (ESO), Alonso de Cordova 3107, 1900 Casilla Vitacura, Santiago, Chile
Received:
6
April
2020
Accepted:
2
June
2020
Context. Asteroid (16) Psyche is the largest M-type asteroid in the main belt and the target of the NASA Psyche mission. It is also the only asteroid of this size (D > 200 km) known to be metal rich. Although various hypotheses have been proposed to explain the rather unique physical properties of this asteroid, a perfect understanding of its formation and bulk composition is still missing.
Aims. We aim to refine the shape and bulk density of (16) Psyche and to perform a thorough analysis of its shape to better constrain possible formation scenarios and the structure of its interior.
Methods. We obtained disk-resolved VLT/SPHERE/ZIMPOL images acquired within our ESO large program (ID 199.C-0074), which complement similar data obtained in 2018. Both data sets offer a complete coverage of Psyche’s surface. These images were used to reconstruct the three-dimensional (3D) shape of Psyche with two independent shape modeling algorithms (MPCD and ADAM). A shape analysis was subsequently performed, including a comparison with equilibrium figures and the identification of mass deficit regions.
Results. Our 3D shape along with existing mass estimates imply a density of 4.20 ± 0.60 g cm−3, which is so far the highest for a solar system object following the four telluric planets. Furthermore, the shape of Psyche presents small deviations from an ellipsoid, that is, prominently three large depressions along its equator. The flatness and density of Psyche are compatible with a formation at hydrostatic equilibrium as a Jacobi ellipsoid with a shorter rotation period of ∼3h. Later impacts may have slowed down Psyche’s rotation, which is currently ∼4.2 h, while also creating the imaged depressions.
Conclusions. Our results open the possibility that Psyche acquired its primordial shape either after a giant impact while its interior was already frozen or while its interior was still molten owing to the decay of the short-lived radionuclide 26Al.
Key words: minor planets / asteroids: general / minor planets / asteroids: individual: (16) Psyche / methods: observational / techniques: high angular resolution
The reduced images are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/638/L15
© M. Ferrais et al. 2020
Open Access article, published by EDP Sciences, under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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