The Atlantic
Jan. 26, 2023
Asteroid measurements make no sense
Many scientists and researchers evoke images of familiar, earthly objects to convey the scope of asteroids and other near-Earth objects. Scientists don't have formal guidelines for describing the nature of asteroids on a human scale. "It's a real challenge to try and communicate physical properties of something that people aren't going to actually lay eyes on or have any personal experience with," said Eric Christensen, a University of Arizona astronomer who oversees a program that detects near-Earth objects. "I don't know how many people actually have a good sense of scale for penguins," said Daniella DellaGiustina, an assistant professor of planetary sciences in the university's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory and principal investigator of the extended OSIRIS-REx mission, dubbed OSIRIS-APEX.