Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Planetary Photo Journal Collection
Title:
Two Views of Mathilde
Original Caption Released with Image:
Two different views of asteroid 253 Mathilde were obtained by the NEAR spacecraft on June 27, 1997. The image at left was obtained as the spacecraft approached Mathilde with its camera pointed near the direction of the Sun; only a few of the prominent ridges on Mathilde are illuminated. The visible area at left is 29 km (18 miles) high, and the phase angle (the angle from Sun-Mathilde spacecraft) is 136°. As the spacecraft receded from Mathilde, it observed the asteroid (about 60 km or 38 miles across) almost fully lit by the Sun at a phase angle of 43° (right image). Mathilde's irregular shape results from a long history of severe collisions with smaller asteroids. The largest visible crater is 30 km (19 miles) in diameter.

Built and managed by The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, NEAR was the first spacecraft launched in NASA's Discovery Program of low-cost, small-scale planetary missions. See the NEAR web page at http://near.jhuapl.…for more details.
Addition Date:
2000-05-07
Produced By:
Johns Hopkins University/APL
Mission:
NEAR
Spacecraft:
NEAR Shoemaker
Target Name:
Mathilde
Is a satellite of:
Sol (our sun)
Instrument:
Multi-Spectral Imager
Product Size:
640 samples x 398 lines
Primary Data Set:
NEAR Home Page
facet_what:
Sun
facet_what:
Crater
facet_what:
Imager
facet_what:
NEAR Shoemaker
facet_what:
Multi-Spectral Imager
facet_where:
Maryland
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_when:
June 27, 1997
facet_when_year:
1997
Image #:
PIA02479
UID:
SPD-PHOTJ-PIA02479
orignial url:

Two Views of Mathilde