NASA Releases Colorful Animation of Vesta Asteroid

Posted on June 11, 2012

A new animation from NASA's Dawn mission drapes high-resolution false color images over a 3D model of the asteroid Vesta's terrain constructed from Dawn's observations. The colors were chosen to highlight differences in surface composition that are too subtle for the human eye to see. Green shows the amount of iron. Scientists have not yet determined the composition indicated by the other colors.

Dawn obtained the images used to make this animation in September and October 2011. The distance to the surface of Vesta is around 420 miles (680 kilometers) on average and the images have an average resolution of about 210 feet (65 meters) per pixel. Take a look:

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