Comets

Scott Barber has posted a recent column about avoiding the center of the universe syndrome. The crux of the article is towards the end:

When all is said and done, in many organizations the test team is no more at the center of the universe than the Earth’s moon. Think about it. In your team, does the test team (the moon) orbit the development team (the Earth), which is guided by the gravity of the business (the sun), which in turn is weaving a path through the universe of business, finance, and competitive pressures?

So what celestial body are testers then? I would argue that the a comet would fit the metaphor well. Why?

They are controlled by the sun (the business)
They have different orbiting period (some longer than others)
They originate from different places (development, tech support, other)
They leave stuff (debris technically) behind (hopefully it isn’t bad debris)
They can have unexpected results on things they are near (again, hopefully in a positive way)

Wikipedia has, to not much surprise, a great article on comets for the amateur astronomy buffs.