Dawn Approaches “Landfall”
July 19th 2011 00:33
Category: Cosmic Objects
Vesta
LAUNCHED ON SEPTEMBER 27, 2007, DAWN IS FAST APPROACHING THE END OF A VERY LONG JOURNEY.
DAWN WILL ENTER ORBIT AROUND ASTEROID VESTA ON JULY 16TH. DAWN WILL SPEND A YEAR VESTA AFTER WHICH IT WILL CONTINUE ITS JOURNEY TO CERES IN LATE 2012.
THERE IS A STRONG POSSIBILITY THAT THESE LARGER TWO OBJECTS, WHICH FORMED EARLY IN THE LIFE OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM. VESTA AND CERES CAN HELP US FIND THE ANSWERS TO THE FORMATION OF THE ROCKY PLANETS.
VESTA IS THE SECOND-LARGEST ASTEROID IN THE BELT OF ROCKY BODIES BETWEEN MARS AND JUPITER.
VESTA IS A VERY INTERESTING OBJECT, WE HAVE SEEN A GLIMPSE OF THE ASTEROID’S SURFACE VIA THE HUBBLE TELESCOPE.
SO FAR THE IMAGES FOR EARTH BASED TELESCOPE SHOW ONLY PORTIONS OF THE ASTEROID’S SCARRED SURFACE.
VESTA HAS HAD A VERY VIOLENT UPBRINGING. FRAGMENTS OF METEORITES PRESUMED TO BE FRAGMENTS OF VESTA SUGGEST THAT VESTA HAS BEEN BOMBARDED BY OTHER FRAGMENTS AND SPACE DEBRIS AND THE SURFACE IS PITTED WITH IMPACT CRATERS.
VEST AND CERES ARE BELIEVED TO HAVE FORMED IN THE SAME WAY AS THE FOUR ROCKY PLANET OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM. THE DAWN SPACE CRAFT SEND BACK IMAGES TAKEN OF VESTA
AS DAWN APPROACHES VESTA’S SURFACE IT WILL MAKE MEASUREMENTS OF THE ASTEROID’S MASS, THE SPACECRAFT WILL ALSO SEND HOME SOME OF THE BEST PICTURES OF THE ASTEROID.
SPACE CRAFT DAWN WILL ORBIT THE ASTEROID FORM A DISTANCE OF AROUND 160 KM ABOVE VESTA’S SURFACE.
ITS IS POSSIBLE TO SEE THE ASTEROID VESTA BUT ONLY THROUGH BINOCULARS AND TELESCOPES AS A POINT OF LIGHT. UNFORTUNATELY VEST IS FAR TOO DIM TO BE SEEN WITH THE NAKED EYE.
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Comment by S.L.
The Political Brief
Comment by CMoreStars
Astroearth
Camera Sense
Vesta seems to be like an form of early Earth, hopeful the space probe will tell us more.