NEAR image of the day for 2000 Dec 08

Eros Wears Its Rings

NEAR Shoemaker photographed the region south of the large crater Psyche on December 4, 2000, from a 198-kilometer (123-mile) altitude. The Sun illuminates Eros' surface from nearly overhead, and the lack of shadows allows variations in surface brightness to stand out. This view emphasizes that a major source of these variations are the ring-like deposits of relatively highly reflective materials on the inner walls of many craters. The picture covers a region about 7.2 kilometers (4.5 miles) across.

(Image 0151384134)

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Built and managed by The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, NEAR-Shoemaker was the first spacecraft launched in NASA's Discovery Program of low-cost, small-scale planetary missions. See the NEAR web site for more details.

Feedback to Scott Murchie. Scott.Murchie@jhuapl.edu.