How Big is 16 Psyche?
Garrett Marshall Wolff
Major: Physics
Genre/Medium: Infographic/Digital/Illustrator and Photoshop
About the work: This project is meant to give a more vivid idea of how large the (16) Psyche asteroid is in comparison to things people actually have experience with. Although size comparisons on larger scales are useful, it can be difficult to grasp the size of something extremely large when comparing it to something else extremely large. However, we also had to ensure we didn’t spread a misconception that the asteroid was going to hit Earth. So, although a view of the asteroid in a perspective from Earth was exciting, it was also terrifying. For this route, we decided to use the view of New York City and Hawaii from space, images that people are familiar with and can potentially relate to real-life experiences of seeing them from planes. The mass and density of the asteroid were also helpful in providing a more physical connection. Finally, adding in a portion that shows how we know the size of Psyche was included to help it feel more real and concrete.
