Public index · Astronomy
Meet the 42
42
ESO VLT/SPHERE survey of 42 large belt asteroids, including (16) Psyche
In 2021 ESO imaged forty-two of the largest rocks between Mars and Jupiter. Psyche was one of them. The release is titled Meet the 42.
ESO · SPHERE · 12 October 2021
Meet the 42
A telescope in Chile took pictures of forty-two of the biggest rocks between Mars and Jupiter. Psyche was one of them, and one of the two densest. The observatory named the release Meet the 42. That day was forty-two years after Adams’s book. Homage is a fact about the note. It does not make the rocks a second Answer.
What it supports
An independently defined observing program of 42 asteroids. Vernazza et al. 2021, A&A 654, A56. Psyche and Kalliope sit among the densest in that sample. ESO note [1] says 12 October 2021 is the 42nd anniversary of Adams’s book. Homage is a fact about the press note.
What it does not
Not a hidden decimal. Not proof that the belt was built for Adams. Homage is reception, not a second cosmic constant.
ExactnessCount
Form42
Unitasteroids
Strengthhard
When2021-10-12