Whats it like being a freelance science journalist? How does the job “work” so to speak?

These look amazing!!!

🫨 that’s awesome! What was your path to getting there?

Now do one for planetary! 😀

I totally agree! I haven’t updated the app since that happened so it still appears as Twitter on my phone 🙈

Congratulations!! Sounds like a really great read!

Looove this

Thank you Justin! Fingers crossed! 😁

So exciting :D but I also don’t envy the folks who have to collect all of those exterior dust samples 😅

Exciting opportunities!!

I’m short, knowing these bodies better helps us understand not only our origins but the fundamental processes that shaped the evolution of our solar system!

Image credits in order of appearance: C.D. Schultz; WikiCommons; University of Arizona/NASA; NASA/JPL-Caltech.

And by better understanding the spectral properties of these asteroids, we’ll have a much better idea of what they’re made of!This is important because asteroids like these may have delivered much of Earth’s water and the organic molecules necessary for life!

We study the spectral properties of meteorites like this in the lab so that we can make better interpretations of the spectral properties of asteroids, like asteroid 101955 Bennu!

I will be studying this stone using a technique called reflectance spectroscopy! It’s a powerful method used for studying the composition of different objects. This technique is particular powerful because we can use it in the lab but also remotely to study the composition of things like asteroids!

At approximately 4.568 billion years old, these minerals are actually used as the standard reference for the age of our solar system! See one in the photo below (the big irregularly shaped blob)!

Allende is perhaps one of the most famous and well-studied meteorites. But inside this stone are minerals, referred to as Calcium-Aluminum-rich Inclusions, that are considered to be the very first minerals to have formed in our solar system.