From fifty kilometers above asteroid Eros, the surface inside one of its largest craters appears covered with an unusual substance: regolith [ http://science.canb…]. The thickness and composition of the surface dust that is regolith [ http://adsabs.harva…] remains a topic of much research. Much of the regolith on 433 Eros [ http://near.jhuapl.…] was probably created by numerous small impacts during its long history. In this representative-color view [ http://near.jhuapl.…] taken by the robot spacecraft NEAR-SHOEMAKER [ http://near.jhuapl.…] that orbited Eros [ http://near.jhuapl.…] in 2000 and 2001, brown areas indicate regolith [ http://near.jhuapl.…] that has been chemically altered by exposure to the solar wind [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] during micrometeorite [ http://www.solarvie…] impacts. White areas are thought to have undergone relatively less exposure. The boulders visible [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] inside the crater appear brown, indicating either that they are old enough to have a surface itself tanned by the solar wind [ http://www-istp.gsf…], or that they have somehow become covered with some dark surface regolith [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…].
Explanation
From fifty kilometers above asteroid Eros, the surface inside one of its largest craters appears covered with an unusual substance: regolith [ http://science.canb…]. The thickness and composition of the surface dust that is regolith [ http://adsabs.harva…] remains a topic of much research. Much of the regolith on 433 Eros [ http://near.jhuapl.…] was probably created by numerous small impacts during its long history. In this representative-color view [ http://near.jhuapl.…] taken by the robot spacecraft NEAR-SHOEMAKER [ http://near.jhuapl.…] that orbited Eros [ http://near.jhuapl.…] in 2000 and 2001, brown areas indicate regolith [ http://near.jhuapl.…] that has been chemically altered by exposure to the solar wind [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] during micrometeorite [ http://www.solarvie…] impacts. White areas are thought to have undergone relatively less exposure. The boulders visible [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] inside the crater appear brown, indicating either that they are old enough to have a surface itself tanned by the solar wind [ http://www-istp.gsf…], or that they have somehow become covered with some dark surface regolith [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…].
