NASA has been using the Hubble Space Telescope to study a remarkable asteroid that orbits between Mars and Jupiter.
16 Psyche, one of the most massive objects in the solar system's main asteroid belt, harbours minerals valued on today's market at a staggering $10,000 quadrillion, or $10,000,000,000,000,000,000.
Orbiting at approximately 230 million miles from Earth, Psyche 16 is classed as a failed 'protoplanet', an object that did not quite evolve into a planet.
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However, 16 Psyche, which measures around 140 miles in diameter, does not consist of rocks and ice like most asteroids. Instead we see the core of the asteroid which millions of years ago was left exposed by massive cosmic collisions.
In 2022, NASA plans to launch an unmanned spacecraft to visit Psyche 16 to study the asteroid in an attempt to understand its history. It will be the first time a mission will visit a body made entirely of metal.
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