Universe ID: 11833

Portrait Of An Asteroid

Story by Kerry Klein | Visualizations by Greg Shirah Released on April 7, 2015

Not all asteroids look the same. In fact, the appearance of an asteroid can vary depending on factors like its age, composition and how it evolved. In 2000, after a four-year journey from Earth, NASA’s NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft began circling Eros, the second-largest near-Earth asteroid. Researchers believe that Eros is a pristine leftover from when the solar system formed 4.6 billion years ago. To learn more about Eros, a laser rangefinder instrument aboard the spacecraft pinged the 20-mile-long chunk of rock with approximately 8 million infrared pulses over the course of a year. The light-based measurements yielded information about the height and shape of features on the asteroid’s surface, allowing scientists to construct a detailed 3-D model of its topography. The model helped scientists study the asteroid’s many craters and offered insights into its internal structure. Watch the video for a tour of Eros.

Eros' largest crater, Himeros (top), is six miles in diameter. It’s so big that its sides caved in, leaving behind a saddle-shaped depression.

Story Credits

Lead Visualizer/Animator:
Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC)

Visualizers/Animators:
Tom Bridgman (Global Science and Technology, Inc.)
Marte Newcombe (GST)

Scientists:
Andrew Cheng (Johns Hopkins University/APL)
David Smith (NASA/GSFC)
Maria Zuber (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Lead Writer:
Kerry Klein (USRA)

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

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https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11833

Keywords:
SVS >> App
NASA Science >> Universe