Estimate of water and hydroxyl abundance on asteroid (16) Psyche from JWST data
Stephanie G. Jarmak, Tracy M. Becker, Charles E. Woodward, Casey I., Honniball, Andrew S. Rivkin, Margaret M. McAdam, Zoe A. Landsman, Saverio, Cambioni, Thomas G. M\"uller, Driss Takir, Kurt D. Retherford, Anicia, Arredondo, Linda T. Elkins-Tanton

TL;DR
This study uses JWST data to detect hydration features on asteroid (16) Psyche, revealing the presence of hydroxyl and water, which informs its composition and origin within the Solar System.
Contribution
First detection of hydration features on Psyche using JWST, providing new insights into its mineralogy and possible origin beyond the snow line.
Findings
Detected 3-μm absorption features associated with OH and H2O.
Estimated water abundance between 4.3% and 6%.
Placed an upper limit of 39 ppm on water content.
Abstract
Our understanding of Solar System evolution is closely tied to interpretations of asteroid composition, particularly the M-class asteroids. These asteroids were initially thought to be the exposed cores of differentiated planetesimals, a hypothesis based on their spectral similarity to iron meteorites. However, recent astronomical observations have revealed hydration on their surface through the detection of 3-m absorption features associated with OH and potentially H2O. We present evidence of hydration due mainly to OH on asteroid (16) Psyche, the largest M-class asteroid, using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) spanning 1.1 - 6.63 m. Our observations include two detections of the full 3-m feature associated with OH and H2O resembling those found in CY-, CH-, and CB-type carbonaceous chondrites, and no 6-m feature uniquely associated with H2O across…
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Taxonomy
TopicsAstro and Planetary Science · Isotope Analysis in Ecology · Planetary Science and Exploration
