Hubble Reveals Huge Crater on the Surface of the Asteroid Vesta

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A NASA Hubble Space Telescope image of the asteroid Vesta, taken in May 1996 when the asteroid was 110 million miles from Earth. The asymmetry of the asteroid and "nub" and the south pole is suggestive that it suffered a large impact event. The image was digitally restored to yield an effective scale of six miles per pixel (picture element).

Object Name: Vesta

Image Type: Astronomical

Credit: Ben Zellner (Georgia Southern University), Peter Thomas (Cornell University) and NASA

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The above image is part of a montage:

Montage Image: Hubble Reveals Huge Crater on the Surface of the Asteroid Vesta Image Type: Astronomical/Illustration PRC1997-27 Vesta Image Type: Astronomical Computer Model of the Asteroid Vesta Image Type: Astronomical

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