Eros:
Colour at Higher Resolution
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PIA02492
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As
the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft descends into lower orbits around Eros, it
continually returns higher spatial resolution images of the asteroid. The
true colour image on the left was taken 12 February 2000, from a range of
1,748 km, and shows details only as small as 180 m across. |
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Image
Credit: Johns
Hopkins University / Applied Physics Laboratory, NASA. |
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The
image was taken two days before orbit insertion, as part of an image sequence
designed to provide moderate-resolution colour mapping of Eros at a near-constant
viewing geometry. The true colour image inset on the right was taken February
29 from a range of 283 km and shows much smaller details only 27 m across.
The higher spatial resolution (by a factor of six) brings out a whole class
of surface details that were either invisible or at the margin of visibility
in the earlier images. |
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For example, the bright material on the wall of the large crater in the
inset image is barely evident in the lower-resolution image at left, but
by virtue of its limited spatial coverage the inset image lacks information
on the crater's regional geologic setting. NEAR Shoemaker's imaging strategy
makes use of both types of images, with lower-resolution images providing
"context" for higher-resolution images that bring specific features
into sharper focus. |
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