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> Asteroid Eros seen by NEAR spacecraft

Asteroid Eros seen by NEAR spacecraft

author: Nasa/JHU/APL/Novapix

reference: a-ast02-00004

Image Size 300 DPI: 22 * 15 cm

This image mosaic, showing Eros' saddle and a shadowed feature to its left, was taken on March 3, 2000 from a distance of 204 kilometers (127 miles). In this picture features as small as 20 meters (65 feet) across are visible. This is the best view to date of this area. The sun is coming from the northeast illuminating a shadowed feature that consists of three large craters situated adjacent to each other. The two largest are each about 4-5 km (2-3 miles) across. Because the sun is very low with respect to these craters, even small topographic features cast long shadows, making them easier to see. As a result, several boulders on the crater walls can be distinguished, ranging from about 50 to 100 meters in diameter.

Keywords for this photo:

2000 - ASTEROID - ASTRONOMY - BLACK AND WHITE - EROS - IMPACT CRATER - NEAR -