Musician and Astrophysicist , Brian May , Co-Authored the First Atlas of an Asteroid.
Musician and Astrophysicist , Brian May , Co-Authored the First Atlas of an Asteroid.
A new book, co-authored by University of Arizona's planetary science expert Dante Lauretta, is set to become the world's first atlas of an asteroid.
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'The Guardian' reports that the book is notably co-authored by little-known astrophysicist Brian May, who is better known as the guitarist for Queen.
'The Guardian' reports that the book is notably co-authored by little-known astrophysicist Brian May, who is better known as the guitarist for Queen.
The two astrophysicists joined forces to author , 'Bennu 3-D: Anatomy of an Asteroid.'.
The book is reportedly the first complete, three-dimensional atlas of an asteroid ever.
The book, featuring images and data from the Osiris-Rex mission, is set to be released on July 27.
The Osiris-Rex mission was a partnership between NASA and the University of Arizona aimed at collecting samples from Bennu, a near-Earth asteroid.
The Osiris-Rex mission was a partnership between NASA and the University of Arizona aimed at collecting samples from Bennu, a near-Earth asteroid.
The mission, which launched in 2016, is scheduled to return to Earth carrying data from the asteroid on September 24 of this year.
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NASA expects the mission to deliver, “pristine material from Bennu – rocks and dust collected from the asteroid’s surface in 2020.”.
According to NASA, the mission offers scientists a window into 4.5 billion years ago, at a time when the sun and planets were still in the process of forming.
NASA considers Bennu one of the asteroids which pose the greatest risk to Earth.
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NASA has estimated that Bennu has a relatively high probability of impacting Earth at some point in the late 22nd century
