An Asteroid in Four Faces
Later this year, a NASA satellite named Psyche will launch on a mission to survey a metallic asteroid of the same name to learn more about how it was made, whether it formed in conditions like those of Earth’s core, and what its surface looks like. Here on Earth, Psyche’s far-out features will be displayed online thanks to the work of Caltech senior Jennah Colborn.
Colborn is not only a physics major who studies astrobiology to search for extraterrestrial life but also an artist who showcases the cosmos in a variety of media to inspire researchers and make science relatable. This double fascination with the stars led her to start an internship last fall with Psyche Inspired, a program that brings together undergraduate students from a variety of disciplines to create artistic works related to the Psyche mission. For her first of four projects, titled Faces of Psyche, Colborn used makeup and digital photography to bring some of the asteroid’s physical features to life through a series of portraits featuring other Caltech students.
The first portrait illustrates the asteroid’s asymmetry and unique shape. The second shows one aspect of the asteroid’s composition: silicate rock and crystal. The third portrait depicts perhaps the most iconic feature of the asteroid: its metal-rich composition. The fourth displays a common feature among asteroids like Psyche: space weathering.