The solar system contains millions of asteroids, ranging from small rocky debris to massive metal-rich bodies like 16 Psyche. Located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, 16 Psyche is a potato-shaped object composed almost entirely of iron and nickel, believed to be the exposed core of an early planet. Its theoretical value is estimated at $10 quintillion, a figure that far exceeds the entire global economy of Earth. These celestial bodies often possess complex features once thought unique to planets, such as their own orbiting moons or even ring systems. Approximately 15% of near-Earth asteroids are part of binary systems where a larger asteroid captures a smaller "moonlet" in its gravitational pull, while the asteroid Chariklo notably hosts two dense rings of water ice and debris.
Beyond their composition, asteroids serve as chemical time capsules of the early solar system. Their surfaces are covered in regolith, a layer of fine dust and rocky debris created by millions of years of microscopic impacts. Scientific missions have successfully returned samples containing water and amino acids, suggesting that asteroid impacts billions of years ago may have delivered the essential building blocks for life to Earth. While popular media often depicts the asteroid belt as a dense obstacle course, the region is largely empty, with the average distance between objects exceeding 600,000 miles. Additionally, small asteroids can experience the YORP effect, where sunlight hitting an uneven surface acts as a propellant, causing some objects to rotate as quickly as once every 2.6 seconds.
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