[quote=Harvestar]sigh... This is, I'm afraid, the problem with current modes of press releases. I'm sure Maggie meant spectral class, but, unfortunately, "one doesn't put that into a press release." I've had similar problems trying to explain my own research in a press release (which did make it to Universe Today).
Should one use "spectral class", certainly, but how many "common" people know what those words mean. (y'all excepted, of course
)?
The common "dumbing down" of press releases is a difficult issue. How much does one assume about the public and who is reading it? Do you assume they know the word "luminosity"?
As a high school teacher in a new school, I pointed out the moon, visible in daylight, and as a joke, commented..."Look, the moon!....and I can see little footprints where they walked on it." The students ,I thought, would find it ludicrous that I would be able to see footprints from Earth....instead...78 of 81 thought I was insane for suggesting that anybody ever walked there (Spring,1983)...so you can't assume "the public" will know very much.
