Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Planetary Photo Journal Collection
Title:
Asteroid Ida and Its Moon
Original Caption Released with Image:
This is the first full picture showing both asteroid 243 Ida and its newly discovered moon to be transmitted to Earth from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Galileo spacecraft--the first conclusive evidence that natural satellites of asteroids exist. Ida, the large object, is about 56 kilometers (35 miles) long. Ida's natural satellite is the small object to the right. This portrait was taken by Galileo's charge-coupled device (CCD) camera on August 28, 1993, about 14 minutes before the Jupiter-bound spacecraft's closest approach to the asteroid, from a range of 10,870 kilometers (6,755 miles). Ida is a heavily cratered, irregularly shaped asteroid in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter--the 243rd asteroid to be discovered since the first was found at the beginning of the 19th century. Ida is a member of a group of asteroids called the Koronis family. The small satellite, which is about 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) across in this view, has yet to be given a name by astronomers. It has been provisionally designated '1993 (243) 1' by the International Astronomical Union. ('1993' denotes the year the picture was taken, '243' the asteroid number and '1' the fact that it is the first moon of Ida to be found.) Although appearing to be 'next' to Ida, the satellite is actually in the foreground, slightly closer to the spacecraft than Ida is. Combining this image with data from Galileo's near-infrared mapping spectrometer, the science team estimates that the satellite is about 100 kilometers (60 miles) away from the center of Ida. This image, which was taken through a green filter, is one of a six-frame series using different color filters. The spatial resolution in this image is about 100 meters (330 feet) per pixel.
Addition Date:
1996-02-01
Produced By:
JPL
Mission:
Galileo
Spacecraft:
Galileo Orbiter
Target Name:
Ida
Is a satellite of:
Sol (our sun)
Instrument:
Solid-State Imaging
Product Size:
1700 samples x 1260 lines
Primary Data Set:
Galileo EDRs
Producer ID:
P43731
facet_what:
Sun
facet_what:
Moon
facet_what:
Jupiter
facet_what:
Earth
facet_what:
Galileo
facet_what:
Galileo Orbiter
facet_what:
Solid-State Imaging
facet_what:
Spectrometer
facet_what:
Mars
facet_where:
Jupiter
facet_where:
Mars
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_when:
19th century
facet_when:
August 28, 1993
facet_when_year:
1993
Image #:
PIA00136
UID:
SPD-PHOTJ-PIA00136
orignial url:

Asteroid Ida and Its Moon