# Asteroid = 28 sheep? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 6, 2023, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asteroid-28-sheep/985076 "2023-06-06T01:25:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asteroid-28-sheep/985076/1 "2023-06-06T01:25:30Z")
Newspaper writers seem to always want to use just about any nonstandard way of measuring objects rather than feet or meters or liters. Rocks zipping past the Earth are often measured in city buses or skyscrapers, for example. But this … > **[Asteroid the size of 28 sheep to ram past the Earth - NASA](https://www.jpost.com/science/article-745133)** > > Asteroid 2023 HO18 is around 28 sheep in diameter and is set to fly very close to the Earth, according to NASA. However, it won't hit us, despite the close pass. Are these ISO sheep or Biblical? Like maybe there’s a standard sheep defined in the Book of Numbers or something. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asteroid-28-sheep/985076/2 "2023-06-06T01:32:30Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Newspaper writers seem to always want to use just about any nonstandard way of measuring objects rather than feet or meters or liters. Rocks zipping past the Earth are often measured in city buses or skyscrapers, for example. But this … > > [Asteroid the size of 28 sheep to ram past the Earth - NASA - The Jerusalem Post](https://www.jpost.com/science/article-745133) > > Are these ISO sheep or Biblical? Like maybe there’s a standard sheep defined in the Book of Numbers or something. - It was too big to use a banana for scale. ETA: I just spotted the pun that justifies using sheep for scale. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asteroid-28-sheep/985076/3 "2023-06-06T01:33:39Z")
It is a thing that Aaron Reich of the JP does. It was funny the first time he did it. The first time. > **[asteroid News and latest stories | The Jerusalem Post](https://www.jpost.com/tags/asteroid)** > > Breaking news about asteroid from The Jerusalem Post. Read the latest updates on asteroid including articles, videos, opinions and more. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asteroid-28-sheep/985076/4 "2023-06-06T01:37:02Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > It is a thing that Aaron Reich of the JP does. It was funny the first time he did it. > > The first time. - > > [asteroid News and latest stories | The Jerusalem Post](https://m.jpost.com/tags/asteroid) I’m inclined to give him two thumb-sized asteroids up. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asteroid-28-sheep/985076/5 "2023-06-06T01:37:10Z")
I came across this collection of memes yesterday, and it seems appropriate. > **[Americans Will Use Anything But The Metric System (30 Memes)](https://pleated-jeans.com/2023/03/11/americans-will-use-anything-but-the-metric-system-meme/)** > > Literally, anything. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asteroid-28-sheep/985076/6 "2023-06-06T01:42:30Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > I came across this collection of memes yesterday, and it seems appropriate. - > [Americans Will Use Anything But The Metric System (27 Memes)](https://pleated-jeans.com/2023/03/11/americans-will-use-anything-but-the-metric-system-meme/) No. 27 measures in Timbits. That’s not American. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asteroid-28-sheep/985076/7 "2023-06-06T07:11:15Z")
The large boulder the size of a small boulder is gilded but whomever demonstrated that “2m is approximately 2 lions tall” is a genius with cojones the size of the forementioned large boulder ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asteroid-28-sheep/985076/8 "2023-06-06T09:05:48Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Are these ISO sheep or Biblical? Like maybe there’s a standard sheep defined in the Book of Numbers or something. It is an SI Standard Sheep, kept at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Paris. The Standard Sheep measures precisely 1546.2 mm in length at 295 Kelvin. To maintain its accuracy as a reference standard, the Standard Sheep subsists entirely on a constant diet of Avogadros, living out its life in a dim quiet room illuminated only by a single candela. [![](https://previews.123rf.com/images/blueringmedia/blueringmedia1502/blueringmedia150200447/36779548-a-sad-white-sheep-on-a-white-background.jpg) ](https://previews.123rf.com/images/blueringmedia/blueringmedia1502/blueringmedia150200447/36779548-a-sad-white-sheep-on-a-white-background.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asteroid-28-sheep/985076/9 "2023-06-06T09:30:07Z")
[![](https://morbotron.com/meme/S05E08/526458.jpg?b64lines=IHRoZSBldmlsIGJyYWlucyBoYXZlCiBiZWVuIGNvbnN0cnVjdGluZyB0aGUKICJJbmZvLVNwaGVyZSIgYSBnaWFudAogbWVtb3J5IGJhbmsgdHdpY2UgdGhlCiBzaXplIG9mIHRocmVlIG9yZGluYXJ5CiBtZW1vcnkgYmFua3Mu) ](https://morbotron.com/meme/S05E08/526458.jpg?b64lines=IHRoZSBldmlsIGJyYWlucyBoYXZlCiBiZWVuIGNvbnN0cnVjdGluZyB0aGUKICJJbmZvLVNwaGVyZSIgYSBnaWFudAogbWVtb3J5IGJhbmsgdHdpY2UgdGhlCiBzaXplIG9mIHRocmVlIG9yZGluYXJ5CiBtZW1vcnkgYmFua3Mu) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asteroid-28-sheep/985076/10 "2023-06-06T12:40:50Z")
Of course many (most?) of those memes are about the COVID 6-feet distant thing. Which each retailer or government tried to put a bit of whimsical happy spin on by comparing it to coat hangers in a clothing store, pets in a pet store etc. I certainly saw plenty of those same kinds of signs in Latin America describing 2 meters in locally relevant ways. _Dos Sombreros_ anyone? Where I live pelicans and sea turtles are the trademark local wildlife so of course the social distancing signs in all the city facilities, including outdoor parks, were about staying one pelican-wingspan or two turtle-diameters apart. With cute drawings. Of course. Overall, during the height of COVID I thought it was kind of fun to find all the new and clever ways to describe 6 feet. It gave you something to chuckle about while fuming behind your mask in a slow-moving stretched-out line. Of course this whole style starts from the not-unreasonable assumption that 90% of Americans are dumb as a post, have no real idea how long a “foot” is, nor really how to count to 6. And even if able, certainly lack the willingness to perform math on command. See “I won’t and you can’t make me!”, the rallying cry of the 2020s-era American. So a smaller number (ideally 1) of a larger sorta-familiar object is a much better way to get the general point across. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asteroid-28-sheep/985076/11 "2023-06-06T12:46:03Z")
What I want to know is if this unit of space measurement is electric sheep. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asteroid-28-sheep/985076/12 "2023-06-06T13:27:43Z")
I remember seeing at least one article on the BBC News web site waggishly commenting on journalists comparing sizes to Routemaster (double-decker) buses. [Here’s a web page along those lines.](https://www.alternatehistory.com/wiki/doku.php?id=offtopic:bbc_system_of_measurements) Weight is in blue whales, length is in Routemaster buses, area is in football pitches or Waleses, etc. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asteroid-28-sheep/985076/13 "2023-06-06T14:52:36Z")
[If you _ **really** _ want to get the point across just how big an asteroid is, you need Billy Bob Thornton.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCKzJjaIp7k) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asteroid-28-sheep/985076/14 "2023-06-06T15:18:24Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > What I want to know is if this unit of space measurement is electric sheep. - We can only dream. Posted from my Android device. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asteroid-28-sheep/985076/15 "2023-06-06T15:32:47Z")
I’ve resigned myself to “football fields” being a unit of measure. What else is there of approx. that length which everybody can instantly grasp? If city blocks were standardized they might work. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asteroid-28-sheep/985076/16 "2023-06-06T16:25:24Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > > [@dtilque](#): > > > > Are these ISO sheep or Biblical? Like maybe there’s a standard sheep defined in the Book of Numbers or something. > > It is an SI Standard Sheep, kept at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Paris. The Standard Sheep measures precisely 1546.2 mm in length at 295 Kelvin. To maintain its accuracy as a reference standard, the Standard Sheep subsists entirely on a constant diet of Avogadros, living out its life in a dim quiet room illuminated only by a single candela. > > [https://previews.123rf.com/images/blueringmedia/blueringmedia1502/blueringmedia150200447/36779548-a-sad-white-sheep-on-a-white-background.jpg](https://previews.123rf.com/images/blueringmedia/blueringmedia1502/blueringmedia150200447/36779548-a-sad-white-sheep-on-a-white-background.jpg) Shouldn’t that be a spherical sheep? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asteroid-28-sheep/985076/17 "2023-06-06T16:29:47Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Shouldn’t that be a spherical sheep? - You would assume. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asteroid-28-sheep/985076/18 "2023-06-06T17:12:13Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > We can only dream. > > Posted from my Android device. Excellent! ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asteroid-28-sheep/985076/19 "2023-06-06T21:17:54Z")
My favorites are Hoover Dams (for volumes of concrete) and Titanics (length or sometimes height). ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asteroid-28-sheep/985076/20 "2023-06-06T22:05:05Z")
[A large boulder the size of a small boulder.](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/a-large-boulder-the-size-of-a-small-boulder) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asteroid-28-sheep/985076.md?page=2)