16 Psyche s a large M-type asteroid, which was discovered by the Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis, on 17 March 1852 and named after the Greek goddess Psyche.

The prefix "16" signifies that it was the sixteenth minor planet in order of discovery. It is the largest and most massive of the M-type asteroids, and one of the dozen most massive asteroids. It has a mean diameter of approximately 220 kilometers (140 mi) and contains about one percent of the cumulative mass of the whole asteroid belt. It was thought to be the exposed core of a protoplanet, but recent observations cast doubt on that hypothesis.

Psyche will be explored by NASA, with a spacecraft of the same name, marking the first time a manmade object will journey to a metallic asteroid. The spacecraft was launched on 13 October 2023, with an expected arrival in 2029. Read more ...

JWST Discovers Asteroid Psyche Is Rusting, Suggesting A Complex History   IFL Science - August 21, 2024

Hydrated metals have been detected on the surface of the asteroid Psyche. The observations, made with JWST, raise some big questions for the mission named after the asteroid, which hopefully will be settled when the spacecraft reaches its target.

This Strange Metal Object Could Unlock Secrets Buried Inside Earth   Science Alert - August 18, 2023

NASA's robotic mission to a metal world is scheduled for liftoff on October 5, 2023. That mission, the spacecraft traveling there, and the world it will explore all have the same name - Psyche - considered an iron giant of asteroids. "This is just further evidence that the Chicxulub impact ended the Cretaceous period."

Giant Asteroid Survivor of Failed Planet Discovered to Be Slowly Rusting in Space   Science Alert - October 28, 2020

Roughly two to three times Earth's distance from the Sun, in the Asteroid Belt that lies between Mars and Jupiter, 16 Psyche makes its home. This giant metal asteroid is one of the most massive objects in the Asteroid Belt, categorized as a minor planet. Astronomers think that 16 Psyche is the exposed core of a full planet that didn't make it all the way, and we're itching to know more about it. NASA will be sending a probe to check it out in the next few years, and in the meantime, scientists are working to glean what they can from Earth. Now, for the first time, 16 Psyche has been studied in ultraviolet wavelengths using the Hubble Space Telescope, revealing that, just as we thought, the dense chunk of space rock is remarkably metallic.