Dawn probe photographs asteroid Vesta up close

[rodsky]

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Dawn (spacecraft) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Vesta as seen from Dawn...


Dawn is currently "in orbit" (it's not a real orbit because Vesta's grav pull is too weak) around Vesta, and will depart by end of July, enroute to another object, the minor planet Ceres, in 2015.

-RODION

[cptn_star]

i find this asteroid kinda "rocky" sir rodz. the craters are cool though.

[rodsky]

i find this asteroid kinda "rocky" sir rodz. the craters are cool though.

All/most asteroids are rocky.

-RODION

[observer]

Vesta, in that picture, shows lots of striated marks. Does this indicate the presence of ice? I suppose we can rule out wind, since there's no air friction in space.

[rodsky]

Vesta, in that picture, shows lots of striated marks. Does this indicate the presence of ice? I suppose we can rule out wind, since there's no air friction in space.

Similar striations are found in Miranda, one of Uranus' moons:



In the case of Miranda, the current hypothesis is that this is caused by Miranda breaking apart during a collision with another moon/object, and coming back together again, effectively getting "superglued" back together again a la Humpty Dumpty.

-RODION