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Scientists today are expressing their surprise over the detection of water deposits
on an asteroid that is thought to be pure metal.
The asteroid is called 16 Psyche,
and it's described as a largest metallic asteroid in the solar system.
The co-author of a new paper on the asteroid says of the discovery:
"We did not expect a metallic asteroid like Psyche to be covered by water and/or hydroxyl.
Metal-rich asteroids like Psyche are thought to have formed
under dry conditions without the presence of water or hydroxyl,
so we were puzzled by our observations at first."
The authors of the paper have suggested that the water was delivered by impacts
from other asteroids in 16 Psyche's past.
However, they have also considered the possibility
that the water was formed by solar wind interactions
with silicates on the asteroid's surface.
In previous Space News episodes, Dr. Franklin Anariba,
a specialist in electrochemistry, has proposed that a similar mechanism
may be responsible for the detection of water molecules at Comet 67P.
Today, we asked Dr. Anariba for his analysis of this new discovery.
[Dr. Franklin Anariba] Observations indicate that comets and even asteroids appear to us to behave unexpectedly.
This is partly due to the lack of complete understanding
of cometary phenomena due to its complexity.
I've previously proposed the presence of 3 competing mechanisms in action
in cometary bodies for the identification of water and other organic volatiles.
These are: 1. Sublimation of volatiles from the nucleus due to solar radiation.
This option applies once their presence on the surface of the nucleus has been confirmed.
2. Water formation on the surface of refractory materials, such as silicates,
due to proton implantation through the solar wind.
3. Water and organic material formation driven electrochemically.
This is realistic since charge separation, voltage differentials,
the presence of electric fields, and ion re-concentration due to the electric fields,
have been reported, which allows for a serious consideration of the mechanism.
Recently, it was published that asteroid 16 Psyche,
which consists of mostly Fe-Ni metal
and is thought to be the largest metallic asteroid in the solar system,
may have traces of water molecules on its surface.
The authors find that near infrared absorption features in the proximity of 3,000 nanometers,
can be attributed to the presence of water or hydroxyl ion.
This is particularly relevant because a similar phenomenon
was reported to be present on the surface of the Moon:
"The Deep Impact observations of the Moon
not only unequivocally confirm the presence of OH or H2O on the lunar surface,
but also reveal that the entire lunar surface is hydrated
during at least some portions of the lunar day."
Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that this phenomenon is also hydrating asteroid 16 Psyche.
Within the framework of a neutral medium,
the corresponding reactions can be thought of as gas/gas reactions
if they occur above the surface and gas/solid interface reactions
if they occur on the surface, which is nominally called proton implantation.
Collision theory can explain both reactions,
mostly driven by kinetic energy gained by the particles from the solar wind or solar radiation.
The authors state:
"... the detection of a three-micrometer absorption band suggests
that Psyche may not be metallic core, or it could be metallic core
that has been impacted by carbonaceous material over the past 4.5 billion years."
The infrared data is not clear-cut in term of the definite presence of impacts
over such a long period of time,
but it's likely that such a statement is a reflection of the current dominant paradigm.
In a non-neutral medium,
one where there is the existence of a dynamic voltage differential
giving rise to non-zero electric fields, charged particles such as hydroxyl (OH-)
and proton (H+) can gain kinetic energy from electric fields,
resulting in the re-concentration of ions along the electric fields.
Due to opposite polarities, these charged particles will be attracted to one another,
and if their guiding electric fields cross paths,
one can imagine a rapid and turbulent gas/gas reaction taking place,
which could lead to large quantities of instantaneous water formation.
In the absence of solar radiation or heat, these water molecules can migrate,
redistribute and condensate on surfaces.
Nonetheless, of particular importance is that the surface of comet 67P
contains both the presence of small amount of water on its surface and carbonaceus materials.
These are facts.
And perhaps the same mechanism is at action on both bodies;
asteroid 16 Psyche and Comet 67P.
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