Asteroid Lutetia Will Be Different from Steins, Pictured Here (VIDEO)
Caption
This is an animation of asteroid (2867) Steins, which was encountered by ESA’s Rosetta on September 5, 2008, at a distance of 800 km. The spacecraft is now on its way to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko via asteroid Lutetia. Steins, the first nominal scientific target of Rosetta, is known to be a relatively rare type of asteroid (E-type) about 5 km across, but its properties were not yet known in detail before Rosetta’s encounter. Rosetta pre-imaged Steins on 10 March 2006 from a large distance, and obtained a few preliminary data about rotation and shape of the asteroid. The Steins fly-by campaign in 2008 was intended to provide a detailed description of this body and of its near environment from a closer distance.
Credit
ESA, animation by C.Carreau
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For non-commercial use only. For free use only with full credit line indicated.
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