GALAXIES
| ~SOLAR SYSTEM ON~ GALAXIES |
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Title: Asteroids Ida & Dactyl Caption: A color image of the asteroid Ida and its tiny moon Dactyl. The different shadings within the image are indicative of changes in illumination angle on the steep slopes, along with subtle color variations due to changes in the physical composition. The slightly blue hues suggest a difference in the abundance or composition of iron-bearing minerals. Copyright:(c) Public Domain Credit: NASA/JPL |
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Title: Asteroid Gaspra Caption: This high-resolution image of the asteroid Gaspra was taken by the Galileo satellite en route to Jupiter. Gaspra is an irregular shaped asteroid roughly 19 x 12 x 11 km (12 x 7.5 x 7 miles) in size. In this image it appears about 18 km (11 miles) from lower left to upper right. The north pole is located at the upper left. Gaspra rotates counter-clockwise once every 7 hours. The surface of Gaspra is covered in more than 600 craters that are just 100-500 m (330-1,560 feet) in diameter. Copyright:(c) Public Domain Credit: NASA/JPL |
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Title: Asteroid Kleopatra Caption: A radar-based computer model of the asteroid Kleopatra. The asteroid is roughly 217 km (135 miles) long and about 94 km (58 miles) wide. The bone shaped asteroid is an apparent remnant from a violet cosmic collision that happened early in the history of the Solar System. Computer analysis of radar data from the Arecibo radio telescope was used to generate these images. The model is accurate to within 15 km (9 miles). Copyright:(c) Public Domain Credit: NASA/JPL |
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Title: Asteroid Mathilde Caption: On its way to its meeting with asteroid Eros the NEAR spacecraft image asteroid Mathilde. The asteroid, from this view, is about 59 x 47 km (36 by 29 miles). The surface has many large craters, including the one in deep shadow at the center, which is estimated to be over 10 km (6 miles) deep. Copyright:(c) John Hopkins University Credit: John Hopkins University and NASA |
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Title: Eros Northern Hemisphere Caption: A mosaic of views, from the NEAR spacecraft, of the asteroid Eros. The image has been constructed by draping individual images over a model of the surface. The view, looking down on the north polar region, was constructed from 6 images, from an altitude of 200 km (124 miles). All the major features of the asteroid can be seen here: the saddle at the bottom; the 5.3 km (3.3 mile) diameter crater at the top; and a major ridge system running between these two features. Copyright:(c) John Hopkins University Credit: John Hopkins University and NASA |
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Title: Large Crater on Eros Caption: An image mosaic of the large crater at Eros' center from just 204 km (127 miles). The picture has a resolution of 20 m (65 feet). A shadow, cast by a boulder, can be seen in the center of the crater. The upper parts of the crater wall appear to be bright, while the lower parts show patches of darker materials. Copyright:(c) John Hopkins University Credit: John Hopkins University and NASA |
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Title: Impact Crater on Eros Caption: The floor of a 5.5 kilometer (3.5 mile) crater dominates one face of asteroid Eros. The daylight hours in the crater are very few. Firstly this is because Eros rotates rapidly, once every 5.27 hours. Secondly, the 0.9 km (0.56 mile) high crater walls tend to block direct sunlight from the floor of the crater. Thirdly at the time of this image, April 2000,the sun remains low in the sky. An astronaut stood in the crater at this time would have experienced just 1 hour 45 minutes of sunlight. Copyright:(c) John Hopkins University Credit: John Hopkins University and NASA |
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Title: Ridges on Eros Caption: This high-resolution image reveals a mysterious ridge across the surface of Eros. It spans roughly one-third of the asteroid's circumference. No analogous feature has been seen before on any other asteroid or asteroid-like moon. The whole scene is 1.9 km (1.2 miles) across. Copyright:(c) John Hopkins University Credit: John Hopkins University and NASA |
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Title: Eros in Color Caption: Six individual images of the asteroid Eros, taken from 1,800 km (1,100 miles), as the NEAR spacecraft closed in on its target. The colors shown approximate to those seen by the human eye. The variations in color could well be due to texture or surface composition. Copyright:(c) John Hopkins University Credit: John Hopkins University and NASA |
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Title: Eros' North Polar Region Caption: A 10 km (6.2 mile) wide image of Eros' north polar region. Most of the region is heavily cratered, but the region to the left has a much lower crater density. This suggests that the surface has been modified since it first formed. Eros rotational axis lies parallel to its orbital plane, giving rise to exaggerated seasons. When this image was taken in March 2000 it was summer in the northern hemisphere. Copyright:(c) John Hopkins University Credit: John Hopkins University and NASA |
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