Video from Dawn
NASA has released an update summarizing what scientists have found since Dawn went into orbit around Vesta in July. The video below, compiled from images Dawn has taken, gives a nice visual overview. The most interesting big feature, understated by the video, is the series of grooves that appear to encircle the asteroid’s equator. To my eye it almost looks like Vesta was once two asteroids that got merged into one, with these grooves indicating the weld point.
The direct link to the video can be found here.
Embedded video from
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology
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A month ago, Richard Hoagland was dancing from foot to foot screaming that images clearly showed that Vesta was artificial. Since the image resolution improved, he’s fallen silent on that score (although still proclaiming his LUDICROUS pseudo-calculation that the odds of comet Elenin having the exact parameters it does have are 44 billion to one against.)