ABOUT THIS IMAGE:

Hubble captured a bright asteroid, with a visual magnitude of 18.7, roaming in the constellation Centaurus. Background stars are shown in white, while the asteroid trail is depicted in blue at top center. The trail has a length of 19 arc seconds. This asteroid has a diameter of one and one-quarter miles (2 kilometers), and was located 87 million miles from Earth and 156 million miles from the sun. Numerous orange and blue specks in this image and the following two images were created by cosmic rays, energetic subatomic particles that struck the camera's detector.

Image Type: Astronomical

Credit: R. Evans and K. Stapelfeldt (JPL) and NASA

NEWS RELEASE IMAGES

The above image is part of a montage:

Montage Image: Curved Trails of Small Asteroids Image Type: Astronomical PRC1998-10 Image Type: Astronomical Image Type: Astronomical Asteroid Trail Crosses Galaxy NGC 4548 Image Type: Astronomical

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