NEAR image of the day for 2000 Jul 13

As NEAR Shoemaker reaches lower altitudes over Eros, it returns higher resolution images that help to clarify the nature of the asteroid's surface. This picture, taken July 11, 2000, from an orbital altitude of 46 kilometers (28 miles), shows several telltale features of the layer of fragmental debris, or "regolith." The four large boulders in the lower left of the image are among the larger rocks in the regolith -- the largest one here being about 90 meters (300 feet) across. In the smooth patch at upper right, the regolith appears to have filled in a depression. The tongue-shaped bulges along the margin of the bright area to the left of the patch suggest flow of regolith toward the smooth patch.