This composite-color view from NASA's Dawn mission shows Cornelia Crater, streaked with dark materials, on the giant asteroid Vesta
This map shows the distribution of dark materials throughout the southern hemisphere of the giant asteroid Vesta. Image released Jan. 3, 2013.
These mosaic images from NASA's Dawn mission show how dark, carbon-rich materials tend to speckle the rims of smaller craters or their immediate surroundings on the giant asteroid Vesta. The image on the left is Numisia Crater and the image on the right is a shallow, unnamed crater in the Sextilia quadrangle. Image released Jan. 3, 2013.
This image from NASA's Dawn mission shows the topography of the northern and southern hemispheres of the giant asteroid Vesta, updated with pictures obtained during Dawn's last look back. Around the time of Dawn's departure from Vesta in the late summer of 2012, dawn was beginning to creep over the high northern latitudes, which were dark when Dawn arrived in the summer of 2011.
This mosaic synthesizes some of the best views Dawn spacecraft had of the giant asteroid Vesta. Dawn studied Vesta from July 2011 to September 2012. The towering mountain at the south pole — more than twice the height of Mount Everest — is visible at the bottom of the image. The set of three craters known as the "snowman" can be seen at the top left.
This image is from the last sequence of images NASA's Dawn spacecraft obtained of the giant asteroid Vesta, looking down at Vesta's north pole as it was departing Sept. 5, 2012.
The shadowy outlines of the terrain in Vesta's northern region are visible in this image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft. The image comes from the last sequence of images Dawn obtained of the giant asteroid Vesta as it departed the giant asteroid Sept. 5, 2012.
Dawn shows that Vesta has an iron core that is about 68 miles (110 kilometers) in radius, suggesting that Vesta completely melted in its early history, allowing iron to sink to form the core and producing a basaltic crust.
The giant asteroid Vesta is shown here as the smallest body among other similar bodies in the solar system: Mars, Mercury, Earth's moon and the dwarf planet Ceres.
This global, colorized image of the giant asteroid Vesta from NASA's Dawn mission reveals how the minerals are distributed on the surface.
This image, made from data obtained by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows the mineral distribution in the southern hemisphere of the giant asteroid Vesta. The data used to create this image were obtained in August 2011.
Scientists with NASA’s Dawn mission have created perspective views of the Rheasilvia impact basin on the giant asteroid Vesta. Rheasilvia is located in Vesta’s southern hemisphere. The images used to create these vistas were obtained by Dawn’s framing camera from Aug. 11 to Nov. 2, 2011.
This image shows three slices of a class of meteorites that fell to Earth that NASA’s Dawn mission has confirmed as originating from the giant asteroid Vesta.
This graphic shows the global distribution of craters that hit the giant asteroid Vesta, based on data from NASA's Dawn mission.
This image from NASA's Dawn mission shows three colorized views of the Oppia region in the southern hemisphere of the giant asteroid Vesta.
These composite images from the framing camera aboard NASA’s Dawn spacecraft show three views of a terrain with ridges and grooves near Aquilia crater in the southern hemisphere of the giant asteroid Vesta. These colorized images are composite images made from images taken during Dawn’s high-altitude mapping orbit on Oct. 26, 2011.
These composite images from the framing camera aboard NASA’s Dawn spacecraft show three views of the comparatively fresh crater named Vibidia on the giant asteroid Vesta. These images are composite images made from those taken during Dawn’s high-altitude mapping orbit on Oct 27, 2011
These images of Tarpeia crater, near the south pole of the giant asteroid Vesta, were obtained by the visible and infrared mapping spectrometer on NASA’s Dawn spacecraft. The images were obtained on Aug. 21, Oct. 9 and Feb. 5, 2011.
This mosaic depicts a portion of asteroid Vesta imaged by NASA's Dawn spacecraft where pockets of bright materials are visible. The images for this mosaic were obtained by Dawn's framing camera between Aug. 11 and 29, 2011. [Full Story]
This colorized image from NASA’s Dawn mission shows temperature variations at Tarpeia crater, near the south pole of the giant asteroid Vesta. The visible and infrared mapping spectrometer obtained the images during Dawn’s low-altitude mapping orbit on Feb. 5, 2012.
This set of images from NASA's Dawn mission shows topography of the southern hemisphere of the giant asteroid Vesta and a map of Vesta's gravity variations that have been adjusted to account for Vesta's shape.
This image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows the brightest area seen on Vesta so far. The image is part of a set of images taken by Dawn's framing cameras on Dec. 27, 2011. [Full Story]
In this image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft, bright material extends out from the crater Canuleia on Vesta. This image was obtained by Dawn's framing camera on Oct. 25, 2011. [Full Story]
This image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows the crater Numisia, located just south of the equator in the Numisia quadrangle on Vesta. The image was obtained by Dawn's framing camera on Oct. 21, 2011. [Full Story]
This mosaic from NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows dark material near a series of craters known as the "snowman" on Vesta. That ejected material is a complex mixture of components. They likely include both dark material thrown out from the craters during the impacts that created them (ejecta), and darker melt that occurred during the impact. The images were obtained from Oct. 11 to 16, 2011. [Full Story]
This mosaic of the surface of Vesta was made from images obtained by NASA's Dawn spacecraft on Feb. 5, 2012, while the area was entirely in the sun's shadow.
This image of a dark-rayed impact crater and several dark spots was obtained by NASA's Dawn spacecraft. The dark materials are located near an older, larger crater in the Sextilia quadrangle of Vesta's southern hemisphere. This image was taken by Dawn's framing cameras on January 8, 2012.
This still from an animation made from data obtained by NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows the topography of a portion of the wall and interior of the Rheasilvia impact basin (310 miles or 500 kilometers in diameter) in Vesta's south-polar region. This basin affected Vesta's global shape and geology. Image released March 20, 2012.
These Dawn FC (framing camera) images show Caparronia crater, after which Caparronia quadrangle is named. The left image is a brightness image, which is taken directly through the clear filter of the FC and shows the brightness and darkness of the surface. The right image uses the same brightness image as its base but then a color-coded height representation of the topography is overlain onto it. NASA's Dawn spacecraft obtained this image with its framing camera on Oct. 23, 2011.
Numerous small, bright spots appear on Vesta, as seen in this image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft. This particular image was taken on Oct. 28, 2011.
This close-up photo of the asteroid Vesta taken by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft shows a part of one of the troughs at the equator of the asteroid. In the image, the floor of one of the equatorial troughs appears as the brighter deposit at the bottom of this image, contrasted against the darker band of the trough edge.
This image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows a young crater on Vesta that is 9 miles (15 kilometers) in diameter. Layering is visible in the crater walls, as are large boulders that were thrown out in the material ejected from the impact. This image was obtained by Dawn's framing camera image was acquired on Dec. 21, 2011.
This image, made from data obtained by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows a perspective view of a layered young crater in the Rheasilvia basin at Vesta. Image released March 20, 2012.
This is the first global map of the giant asteroid Vesta composed from images recorded by the framing camera aboard NASA's Dawn spacecraft.
The interplay of bright and dark material at the rim of Marcia crater on Vesta is visible in this image mosaic taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft. The bright and dark material appear to be exposed from weathering. This images that make up the mosaic were obtained by Dawn's framing camera on Dec. 21, 2011, and Jan. 5, 2012.
This image, one of the first obtained by NASA's Dawn spacecraft in its low altitude mapping orbit, shows part of the rim of a fresh crater on the giant asteroid Vesta. The terrain shown here is located in an area known as the Heavily Cratered Terrain in the northern hemisphere.
This image using color data obtained by the framing camera aboard NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows Vesta's southern hemisphere in color, centered on the Rheasilvia formation. Rheasilvia is an impact basin measured at about 290 miles (467 kilometers) in diameter with a central mound reaching about 14 miles (23 kilometers) high. The black hole in the middle is data that have been omitted due to the angle between the sun, Vesta and the spacecraft.
A set of three craters, nicknamed "Snowman," are seen in this image of the asteroid Vesta's northern hemisphere. This image was obtained by the framing camera on NASA's Dawn spacecraft on July 24, 2011, from a distance of about 3,200 miles (5,200 kilometers).
This image obtained by the framing camera on NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows the south pole of the giant asteroid Vesta.
A 3-D video of the asteroid Vesta incorporates high-resolution images taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft from July to August 2011. The images were obtained as Dawn approached Vesta and circled the giant asteroid during the mission's survey orbit phase.
The south pole of the giant asteroid Vesta reveals cliffs that are several miles or kilometers high, deep grooves, and craters.
This false-color image obtained by NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows a crater on the giant asteroid Vesta.
In this image of the south pole region of the asteroid Vesta, a mountain is rising approximately 9 miles (15 kilometers) above the floor of a crater.
When Dawn sent the first images of the giant asteroid Vesta to the ground, scientists were fascinated by this surface feature at the south pole.
This false-color map of the giant asteroid Vesta was created from stereo images obtained by the framing camera aboard NASA's Dawn spacecraft.
In this image, obtained by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, topography in the area surrounding Vesta's south pole area shows impact craters, ridges and grooves.
Dawn took this image over Vesta's northern hemisphere after the spacecraft completed its first passage over the dark side of the giant asteroid on July 23, 2011.
NASA's Dawn spacecraft obtained this image with its framing camera on July 17, 2011. It was taken from a distance of about 9,500 miles (15,000 kilometers) away from the protoplanet Vesta. Each pixel in the image corresponds to roughly 0.88 miles (1.4 kilometers)
This colorized map from NASA's Dawn mission shows the distribution of minerals across the surface of the giant asteroid Vesta. The visible and infrared mapping spectrometer collected the data used to create this mosaic image in August 2011.
This anaglyph image of the south polar region of the asteroid Vesta was put together from two clear filter images, taken on July 9, 2011 by the framing camera instrument aboard NASA's Dawn spacecraft. Each pixel in this image corresponds to roughly 2.2 miles (3.5 kilometers). The anaglyph image shows the rough topography in the south polar area, the large mountain, impact craters, grooves, and steep scarps in three dimensions. The diameter of Vesta is about 330 miles (530 kilometers). Use red-green (or red-blue) glasses to view in 3-D (left eye: red; right eye: green [or blue]).
NASA's Dawn spacecraft took this image of the south polar region of Vesta, which has a diameter of 330 miles (530 kilometers). The image was taken on July 9, 2011, and it has a scale of about 2.2 miles (3.5 km) per pixel. To enhance details, the resolution was enlarged to .6 miles (1 km) per pixel. This region is characterized by rough topography, a large mountain, impact craters, grooves and steep scarps.
This image mosaic of Vesta's south pole is generated from dozens of individual images obtained by the framing camera aboard NASA's Dawn spacecraft.
This composite image shows the comparative sizes of eight asteroids. Until now, Lutetia, with a diameter of 81 miles (130 kilometers), 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 diameter of approximately 330 miles (530 km).
NASA's Dawn spacecraft captured this photo of the huge asteroid Vesta on June 1, 2011, from a distance of about 300,000 miles (483,000 kilometers).
NASA's Dawn spacecraft obtained this image on its approach to the protoplanet Vesta, the second-most massive object in the main asteroid belt. The image was obtained on June 20, 2011.
This image, processed to show the true size of the giant asteroid Vesta, shows Vesta in front of a spectacular background of stars. It was obtained by the framing camera aboard NASA's Dawn spacecraft on May 3, 2011, from a distance of about 750,000 miles (1.2 million kilometers). This and other images will help Dawn fine tune navigation during its approach to Vesta, with arrival expected on July 16, 2011.
This image shows the first, unprocessed image obtained by NASA's Dawn spacecraft of the giant asteroid Vesta in front of a background of stars. It was obtained by Dawn's framing camera on May 3, 2011, from a distance of about 750,000 miles (1.2 million kilometers).
This Hubble Space Telescope image of Vesta shows another of the most massive asteroids in the asteroid belt, a region between Mars and Jupiter. The images are helping astronomers plan for the Dawn spacecraft's tour of these hefty asteroids.
In this image of the giant asteroid Vesta obtained by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, numerous impact craters illustrate the asteroid's violent youth.
Vesta is seen here as never before. The Hubble Space Telescope revealed that the asteroid rotates once every 5.34 hours, helping planners for NASA's DAWN spacecraft plan their July 2011 encounter with the asteroid.
NASA's Dawn spacecraft bound for the asteroids Ceres and Vesta is photographed during prelaunch preparations.
On its southern side the asteroid Vesta shows a huge crater. This picture shows the asteroid in an image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope (top, left), as a reconstruction based on theoretical calculations (top, right), and as a topological map (bottom).
Launch pad workers prepare the Dawn spacecraft for its attachment to a Delta 2 rocket. The probe is set to launch in September 2007 to visit the asteroids Vesta and Ceres.
NASA's Dawn spacecraft arrives at Pad-17B of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in the early morning on Sept. 11, 2007. Next stop - the Asteroid Belt.
A spectacular launch of the Dawn spacecraft into a beautiful Florida sky in this NASA image of the Sept. 27, 2007 space shot.
NASA's Dawn asteroid probe launches on a three billion mile (4.9 billion-kilometer) mission to the asteroids Vesta and Ceres atop a Delta 2 rocket on Sept. 27, 2007 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla.
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope snapped these images of the asteroid Vesta in preparation for the Dawn spacecraft's visit in 2011. Each of the four Hubble images captures views of Vesta during its 5.34-hour rotation period.
A giant mountain on the asteroid Vesta takes center stage in this image calculated from a shape model using data from NASA's Dawn probe. The image shows a tilted view of the topography of the south polar region, where the tall mountain (at center) rises 13 miles above its surroundings.
This image of the giant asteroid Vesta was obtained by NASA's Dawn spacecraft in the evening Nov. 27 PST (early morning Nov. 28, UTC), as it was spiraling down from its high altitude mapping orbit to low altitude mapping orbit. Low altitude mapping orbit is the closest orbit Dawn will be making, at an average of 130 miles (210 kilometers) above the giant asteroid's surface.
This image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows a close-up view of the wall of the Rheasilvia impact basin on Vesta. Rheasilvia, which is 310 miles or 500 kilometers in diameter, dominates southern Vesta. This image was obtained by the Dawn framing camera on Dec. 27, 2011.
This image, from NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows rock material that has moved across the surface and flowed into a low area in the ridged floor of the Rheasilvia basin on Vesta. The image shows how impacts and their aftermath constantly reshape the landscape. This image was acquired by Dawn's framing camera on Dec. 18, 2011.
This image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows an interior wall and southern terrace of Marcia crater on Vesta. This image was obtained by Dawn's framing camera image on Jan. 5, 2012.
