|
 |
 advertisement
| |
|
|
|
|
|
NEAR Spacecraft Update: Craters On Eros Hint at Double Whammy
posted: 12:00 pm ET
15 June 2000
|
near_update_000614 Imagine two space rocks dancing through the solar system in an orbital tango, perhaps doing an occasional bump and grind. Then suddenly they slam into another, larger asteroid. That's what scientists think might have caused the double crater found recently on Asteroid Eros. The orbiting spacecraft, NEAR-Shoemaker, photographed the side-by-side impact sites June 10 from 32 miles (51 kilometers) above Eros. 
The side-by-side impact sites on Asteroid 433 Eros. Scientists said each crater in the resulting dumbbell-shaped depression is about 1,800 feet (550 meters) across. Some impact craters occurring on Earth and on other planetary bodies come in close pairs. They are sometimes the result of the chance superimposition of two impact events that occur at different moments in history. [inset] However, a few double craters are also thought to have formed by the impact of two similarly sized bodies that are traveling in close orbit or touching each other, scientists on the project said. Sunset on Eros In the image below, taken June 3, the final glimmers of sunlight illuminate the far wall of a crater seconds before sunset on Eros. In the foreground, high terrain on Eros' night side blocks all but the uppermost 25 meters (82 feet) of the crater's wall. The whole scene is 2.1 kilometers (1.3 miles) wide. 
The setting sun leaves a glimmer of light over Eros.
|
|
|
|
|
