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To: dayglored; Red Badger

Not only that, the cover art is already done.


13 posted on 06/20/2022 1:25:02 PM PDT by dayglored ("Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.")
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To: All

Key facts about asteroid Psyche:

Psyche is the 16th asteroid to be discovered (in 1852) and has a diameter of about 222 kms although it is shaped like a slightly squashed toy ball and has a widest diameter of 280 kms. It is a little further out from the sun than Ceres at a mean distance of 2.92 a.u., and it takes just under five years to complete an orbit. We passed it in February and will next overtake it in May, 2023.

It is one of the densest asteroids (density just under 4, greater than Mars, earth is 5.5) meaning it is more metallic and less ice-rock-dust in composition, and it contains about 0.8% of the mass of the asteroid belt. Only eight asteroids are known to be more massive and all of them are larger so the density of Psyche is an outlier. Another dozen or so have similar proportions of mass down to 0.5 per cent. (Ceres is about four to 4.5 times as large by diameter which gives it about 75 times the volume but it contains only 31% of the total mass of the asteroid belt, and has a density of about 2.1, similar to many other asteroids).

Psyche has a moderately low eccentric (0.14) and low-inclined orbit (only 3 deg) by asteroid standards. It rotates every 4.2 hours.


17 posted on 06/20/2022 2:11:11 PM PDT by Peter ODonnell (If only one of those bears Putin wrestled had won)
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