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PHOTO INDEX OF PRIMARY TARGETS ASTEROIDS COMETS EARTH JUPITER KUIPER BELT MARS MERCURY METEORITES NEPTUNE OORT CLOUD PLUTO SATURN SOLAR SYSTEM SPACE SUN URANUS VENUS ORDER PRINTS OTHER PHOTO INDEXES ALL TARGETS PHOTO CATEGORIES SCIENCEVIEWS AMPHIBIANS BIRDS BUGS FINE ART FOSSILS INDIAN ISLANDS MAMMALS OTHER PARKS PLANTS RELIGIOUS REPTILES ROCKS & MINERALS SCIENCEVIEWS PRINTS

First Image of Asteroid 253 Mathilde Target Name:   Asteroid Mathilde Spacecraft:   NEAR Produced by:   JHU/APL/NASA Copyright:  NASA Copyright Free Policy Date Released:  27 June 1997 Related Document Asteroid Mathilde Download Options Name Type Width x Height Size mathild5.jpg JPEG 640 x 398 34K Two different views of asteroid 253 Mathilde were obtained by the NEAR spacecraft on June 27, 1997. The image at left was obtained as the spacecraft approached Mathilde with its camera pointed near the direction of the Sun; only a few of the prominent ridges on Mathilde are illuminated. The visible area at left is 29 km (18 miles) high, and the phase angle (the angle from Sun-Mathilde- spacecraft) is 136°. As the spacecraft receded from Mathilde, it observed the asteroid (about 60 km or 38 miles across) almost fully lit by the Sun at a phase angle of 43° (right image). Mathilde's irregular shape results from a long history of severe collisions with smaller asteroids. The largest visible crater is 30 km (19 miles) in diameter.

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