Radar observations show that ( 16 ) Psyche is one of the largest and most massive asteroids of the M-class located in the main belt , with a diameter of approximately 230 km .
This fact makes Psyche a unique object since observations indicated an iron-nickel composition .
It is believed that this body may be what was left of a metal core of an early planet that would have been fragmented over millions of years due to violent collisions .
In this work we study a variety of dynamical aspects related to the surface , as well as , the environment around this asteroid .
We use computational tools to explore the gravitational field generated by this body , assuming constant values for its density and rotation period .
We then determine a set of physical and dynamical characteristics over its entire surface .
The results include the geometric altitude , geopotential altitude , tilt , slope , among others .
We also explore the neighborhood around the asteroid ( 16 ) Psyche , so that the location and linear stability of the equilibrium points were found .
We found four external equilibrium points , two of them linearly stable .
We confirmed the stability of these points by performing numerical simulations of massless particles around the asteroid , which also showed an asymmetry in the size of the stable regions .
In addition , we integrate a cloud of particles in the vicinity of ( 16 ) Psyche in order to verify in which regions of its surface the particles are most likely to collide .