Post by glactus on Oct 12, 2011 1:34:14 GMT
Vesta Sizes Up:
This composite image shows the comparative sizes of nine asteroids. Up until now, Lutetia, with a diameter of 81 miles (130 kilometres), was the largest asteroid visited by a spacecraft, which occurred during a flyby. Vesta, which is also considered a protoplanet because it's a large body that almost became a planet, dwarfs all other small bodies in this image, with its diameter sizing up at approximately 330 miles (530 kilometres).
Vesta in comparison to 8 other Asteroids
Varied impact craters, valleys, canyons and mountains among the highest in the Solar System – the 3D images and videos of the asteroid Vesta created by scientists at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) reveal a most unusual celestial body.
The Dawn spacecraft
The US Dawn spacecraft, carrying a Gernam camera system on board, has been orbiting the asteroid since July 2011. “Vesta has totally surprised us,” says Ralf Jaumann, Head of the Planetary Geology Department at the DLR Institute of Planetary Research in Berlin-Adlershof. The topographical maps are necessary to study the asteroid, whose orbit lies between those of Mars and Jupiter.
The craters of vesta
To see video of Vesta, just click on the link below. Has sound
www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Fzs_gKJW0XM
Credits: Images NASA/JPL-Caltech/JAXA/ESA
Text by Wikipedia
Video by YouTube
This composite image shows the comparative sizes of nine asteroids. Up until now, Lutetia, with a diameter of 81 miles (130 kilometres), was the largest asteroid visited by a spacecraft, which occurred during a flyby. Vesta, which is also considered a protoplanet because it's a large body that almost became a planet, dwarfs all other small bodies in this image, with its diameter sizing up at approximately 330 miles (530 kilometres).
Vesta in comparison to 8 other Asteroids
Varied impact craters, valleys, canyons and mountains among the highest in the Solar System – the 3D images and videos of the asteroid Vesta created by scientists at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) reveal a most unusual celestial body.
The Dawn spacecraft
The US Dawn spacecraft, carrying a Gernam camera system on board, has been orbiting the asteroid since July 2011. “Vesta has totally surprised us,” says Ralf Jaumann, Head of the Planetary Geology Department at the DLR Institute of Planetary Research in Berlin-Adlershof. The topographical maps are necessary to study the asteroid, whose orbit lies between those of Mars and Jupiter.
The craters of vesta
To see video of Vesta, just click on the link below. Has sound
www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Fzs_gKJW0XM
Credits: Images NASA/JPL-Caltech/JAXA/ESA
Text by Wikipedia
Video by YouTube