Asteroid Lutetia Up Close: Flyby Photos From Rosetta Probe

Asteroid Lutetia Seen by OSIRIS July 2010 1

OSIRIS clear filter image taken during the flyby of the Rosetta spacecraft at asteroid Lutetia on July 10, 2010.

Groovy Asteroid Lutetia Craters

The European Rosetta spacecraft spotted grooved terrain and craters on along the surface of the asteroid Lutetia during a July 10, 2010 flyby of the object in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

Asteroid Lutetia Map

Several images have been combined into a map of the asteroid. This image represents the total area viewed by the spacecraft during the flyby, which amounted to more than 50% of Lutetia’s surface.

Lutetia Polar Projection

This map of Lutetia is centred on the north pole. The number of craters in the asteroid's various regions have been used to date the surface. Some parts of the surface are 3.6 billion years old, while others are just 50–80 million years old.