Last thursday (March 3) asteroid (or better planetoid) Psyche was in opposition. Psyche is a giant iron-nickel metal-rich M-Type asteroid, about three times farther away from the Sun than is the Earth. Its average diameter is about 226 km.
Psyche might be the partial core of a shattered planetesimal – a small world the size of a city or small country that is the first building block of a planet. If it is, asteroid Psyche can offer a close look at the interior of terrestrial planets like Earth that is normally hidden beneath layers of mantle and crust. Therefor NASA is planning for a mission, NASA's Psyche Mission which is foreseen to be launched with a Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Milestones:
2022 – Launch of Psyche spacecraft from Kennedy Space Center, Florida
2023 – Mars Flyby of Psyche spacecraft
2026 – Psyche spacecraft arrives in asteroid’s orbit
2026-2027 – Psyche spacecraft orbits the Psyche asteroid
Psyche is currently visible in constellation Leo and about magnitude 10.4. I was able to take some pictures on both march 4 and 5. Psyche could be observed near galaxy NGC 3462. Below is a gif picture with a time interval of 50 minutes.
Setting : ASI2600MC and TLAPO80/480 f/6, ZWO guidescope 30/120 with ASI224MC;
Lights: 10x300s, 10x180s, darks, bias, flats and darkflats (gif 3x150s & 5x180s)
