NEAR March 13, 2000 Press Conference Slides

NEAR March 13, 2000
Press Conference Slides

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Clark Chapman, NEAR Imaging Team (Southwest Research Institute)

This image of Eros, taken before NEAR Shoemaker entered orbit, is one of a series used for measuring the positions and diameters of the larger craters. Craters identified on earlier images, which showed parts of Eros to better advantage, are shown in lavender. Since they have been replotted on this image based on an imperfect knowledge of Eros's exact shape, they do not exactly lie on top of the craters in the image. Newly measured craters on this image are shown in red.

This heavily cratered portion of Eros was studied to determine the sizes and spatial density of craters down to less than 100 meters in diameter. This surface is about as densely covered with craters as a surface can get; in a practical sense, it is "saturated" with craters. Some other parts of Eros have far fewer craters of these sizes.

Peter Thomas, NEAR Imaging Team (Cornell University)

Looking across the length of Eros, the heavily cratered northern side contrasts with the "saddle" in the right and lower side of the image. The crater on the left is about 2.5 kilometers in diameter.

Large blocks, probably ejecta from impact craters, litter the area in and west of the "saddle" on Eros. The inset highlights some of the blocks, which range from 20 meters to 80 meters wide. The top left of the image shows a prominent crater with brighter material on some of its internal slopes.

A ridge runs more than 10 kilometers from the "saddle" over the high northern region of Eros, and almost to the 5.5-kilometer crater opposite the saddle. This long feature suggests exposure of internal structures or faulting.

Jacob Trombka, X-Ray/Gamma Ray Spectrometer Team (Goddard Space Flight Center)

Solar x-rays irradiating asteroid Eros produce fluorescence lines characteristic of the chemical composition of the surface. The red indicates the surface area irradiated during a solar flare on March 2, 2000, which produced sufficient x-ray fluorescence intensity emission to be observed by NEAR Shoemaker's x-ray spectrometer from the 200-kilometer orbit.

This is the first measurement of an Eros surface x-ray fluorescence spectrum and was observed by NEAR Shoemaker's x-ray spectrometer during the March 2, 2000 solar flare. The positions of the characteristic line emissions from magnesium, aluminum, silicon, calcium, and iron are shown.

	This image of Eros, taken before NEAR Shoemaker entered orbit, is one of a series used for measuring the positions and diameters of the larger craters. Craters identified on earlier images, which showed parts of Eros to better advantage, are shown in lavender. Since they have been replotted on this image based on an imperfect knowledge of Eros's exact shape, they do not exactly lie on top of the craters in the image. Newly measured craters on this image are shown in red.

	This heavily cratered portion of Eros was studied to determine the sizes and spatial density of craters down to less than 100 meters in diameter. This surface is about as densely covered with craters as a surface can get; in a practical sense, it is "saturated" with craters. Some other parts of Eros have far fewer craters of these sizes.

	Looking across the length of Eros, the heavily cratered northern side contrasts with the "saddle" in the right and lower side of the image. The crater on the left is about 2.5 kilometers in diameter.

	Large blocks, probably ejecta from impact craters, litter the area in and west of the "saddle" on Eros. The inset highlights some of the blocks, which range from 20 meters to 80 meters wide. The top left of the image shows a prominent crater with brighter material on some of its internal slopes.

	A ridge runs more than 10 kilometers from the "saddle" over the high northern region of Eros, and almost to the 5.5-kilometer crater opposite the saddle. This long feature suggests exposure of internal structures or faulting.

	Solar x-rays irradiating asteroid Eros produce fluorescence lines characteristic of the chemical composition of the surface. The red indicates the surface area irradiated during a solar flare on March 2, 2000, which produced sufficient x-ray fluorescence intensity emission to be observed by NEAR Shoemaker's x-ray spectrometer from the 200-kilometer orbit.

	This is the first measurement of an Eros surface x-ray fluorescence spectrum and was observed by NEAR Shoemaker's x-ray spectrometer during the March 2, 2000 solar flare. The positions of the characteristic line emissions from magnesium, aluminum, silicon, calcium, and iron are shown.