Second Eros Flyover Movie

On March 7, 2000, the imager on the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft acquired this second of several planned "flyover movies" of Eros.

This flyover shows the zero-degree longitude end of the asteroid and its western hemisphere from a range of 205 kilometers. The northern hemisphere is toward the bottom of the frame and the southern hemisphere is toward the top.

The changing lighting conditions during the movie allow the viewer to distinguish between brightness variations due to topography and those due to reflectivity of the surface.

In the first half of the movie, a bright patch is visible in the crater on the asteroid's end. As it passes out of view, the large 5.5-kilometer crater on the asteroids' side comes into view. It has bright streaks on its interior wall. Since both bright features retain their contrast with the surroundings as the lighting changes and shadows begin to form, it is clear that these features are surface markings.

NEAR image of the day for 2000 Mar 24

Click on the image to replay the sequence

Camera Angle Details

(Product of images 0127875126 through 0127878508)


Source: NEAR web site.