February 13, 2012
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA and Dr Paolo C. Fienga for the additional process. and color.
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In this image, obtained by the NASA - Dawn Spacecraft Framing Camera, a Peak at 4-Vesta's South Pole can be seen at the lower right. The Grooves (such as the long and deep Surface Depressions visible on the left side of the frame) which characterize the Equatorial Region of the Asteroid are about 6 miles wide (approx. 9,6 Km). A huge number of Impact Craters (of different size and shape) can also be noticed all over the scene, even though the Peri-Equatorial and Equatorial Regions (left and upper left of the picture), as well as the Northern Regions of 4-Vesta (not visible here) seem to have suffered much more the action of meteor and cometary-striking than the rest of the Asteroid. In fact, the Northern Hemisphere of 4-Vesta appears to show some of the densest cratering ever seen - so far - in all the Celestial Bodies forming the Solar System, while the Southern one is unexpectedly smooth. The reasons of this uneven cratering on 4-Vesta are unknown, as well as it is also unknown not only the origin of the Grooves that circle the Asteroid near its Equator, but also the nature of the Dark Streaks that delineate some of 4-Vesta's Craters. This view was obtained on July 24, 2011, at a distance of about 3200 miles (such as approx. 5149 Km) from 4-Vesta. This frame has been colorized in Absolute Natural Colors by (such as the colors that a human eye would actually perceive if someone were onboard the DAWN Spacecraft and then looked towards 4-Vesta South Polar Regions), by using an original technique created - and, in time, dramatically improved - by the Lunar Explorer Italia Team. |
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