16 Psyche
A metal-rich world that may be the stripped core of a shattered protoplanet.
Where it is right now
16 Psyche is in Cancer, 3.99 AU away, magnitude 11.7.
Computed for 2 August 2026, 17:00 UTC, and recomputed at least hourly. This page is cached, so treat the line above as accurate to the hour rather than to the second. The map shows the live position.
Position from a Kepler propagation of the published elements below, accurate to about an arcminute.
Facts
Every line carries the source it came from.
- Diameter
- 222 kmSource: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database
- Orbital period
- 5.0 yearsSource: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database
- Distance from the Sun
- 2.926 AU on averageSource: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database
- Orbit shape
- eccentricity 0.135, inclined 3.1 degrees to the eclipticSource: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database
- Class
- Main-belt asteroidSource: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database
- Discovered
- 1852-Mar-17 by De Gasparis, A.Source: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database
Physical size
- Mean radius
- 111 km
- Diameter
- 222 km across
- Absolute magnitude H
- 6.20
Orbit
Elements are heliocentric, referred to the J2000.0 ecliptic.
- Average distance from the Sun
- 2.926 AU (437.7 million km)
- Closest and furthest
- 2.531 AU (378.6 million km) to 3.320 AU (496.7 million km)
- Eccentricity
- 0.1349, slightly elliptical
- Inclination to the ecliptic
- 3.10 degrees
- Orbital period
- 5.0 years (1,828 days)
- Longitude of ascending node
- 149.98 degrees
- Argument of periapsis
- 230.03 degrees
- Mean anomaly at J2000.0
- 338.12 degrees
Claim this body
$15 once, and it stays yours
A real catalogued body with a real name.
A claim is a listing on this map. Not an IAU designation. Permanent, with one disclosed exception for dead links: see the terms.
Catalog id psyche. 3,172 objects on the map, of which 171 are hand-authored with sourced facts.