Deepa Jain is a freelance science writer from Bengaluru, India. Her educational background consists of a master's degree in biology from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, and an almost-completed bachelor's degree in archaeology from the University of Leicester, UK. She enjoys writing about astronomy, the natural world and archaeology.
Scientists using the James Webb Space Telescope have identified a component of water on the mysterious metal-rich asteroid Psyche. The findings suggest the hydration exists as rust and may shed light on how this enigmatic object formed.
But all that glitters isn't gold — or even metal. Over the past decade, new data about Psyche's density and reflectance spectra — the intensity of different wavelengths of sunlight reflected off the asteroid's surface ― suggest it is most likely a mixed silicate and metal world.In 2017, researchers discovered tantalizing traces of another component: water.
By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.To determine if Psyche really has water, Jarmak and scientists from several U.S. and German institutes turned to two of JWST's infrared-sensing instruments: the Near Infrared Spectrograph and the Mid-Infrared Instrument , which can detect shorter and longer infrared wavelengths, respectively.
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