"New Geologic Map Shows the Beauty of the Asteroid Vesta" Topic

"For 15 months between 2011 and 2012, the Dawn spacecraft orbited the asteroid called Vesta, snapping high-resolution pictures of the cratered, potato-shaped rock. Scientists then spent another two and a half years poring over the images and piecing together the geology written on Vesta's surface. Now, a team led by planetary scientist David Williams of Arizona State University has compiled that information together into this beautiful map, which they've published online for the December issue of the journal Icarus.

Vesta was forged within the cloud of dust and debris that formed the solar system about 4.5 billion years ago. During its lifetime, Vesta was pelted with smaller asteroids and rocks, which left a multitude of craters. But according to the researchers, there were three impacts in particular that shaped Vesta's geological history. The most recent collision happened sometime between 120 million and 390 million years ago, forming the Marcia crater seen near the center of the map…"
Full article here
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Amicalement
Armand

Pretty cool stuff. Nice find!

Agreed, very cool.

Here's a pic of Vesta:

Quite the blob until it hits somebody.

Glad you like it guys!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Ah Huh… Stay still I said. Stop running around the Galaxy, I said. It's all fun and games till someone destroys a planet.

8/

New Qalifate of Isis looks a bit… barren, no one left to terrorize I spose :-