22 Miles From Eros
Explanation:
Last month the
NEAR Shoemaker
spacecraft
swooped
closer to Eros,
orbiting only 22 miles (36 kilometers)
from the center of
the asteroid.
These two images taken on
July 19
(left) and
July 24
(right) reveal the
diminutive world's pocked and mottled surface
in amazing detail, showing features as small as 19 feet (6 meters)
across.
Eros is thought to be a
primordial,
undifferentiated
asteroid based on
X-ray
and gamma-ray studies of its surface composition.
In the left picture, its surface layer or
regolith
is seen to be
laced with bright and dark regions while in
the right hand image dark
regolith
appears to have filled in
some crater floors.
The left and right images span an area about
2,600 feet (800 meters) and 3,000 ft (900 meters) wide respectively.
On July 31, NEAR Shoemaker
returned to
its familiar 31 mile (50 kilometer)
orbit,
circling Eros serenely at about 6 miles per hour.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
