New research on asteroid Lutetia
12 Jul 10
Asteroid Lutetia has been viewed from close quarters by the European Space Agency, in a feat achieved from 280 million miles in outer space.
The asteroid, which has become the largest one to be visited by a satellite, was photographed from between Mars and Jupiter by the comet-chaser Rosetta as it flew by Lutetia at a distance of 1,900 miles.
Space agency scientist Rita Schulz said from Darmstadt, Germany, that it would be several weeks before all 400 pictures and the data from the high-precision instruments on Rosetta reach Earth.
ESA manager David Southwood said: "It is a great day for European Science and for world science."
Lutetia was discovered around 150 years ago, but nothing much was known about it until recently, when high-resolution ground-based imaging helped astronomers develop some ideas about it.
The asteroid is believed to be 83.3 miles in diameter with a "pronounced elongation", but scientists have not yet been able to figure out whether it was a "primitive" asteroid containing carbon compounds or a metallic asteroid.
"We are now going to get the details of this asteroid, which is very important," Ms Schulz said. "There will be a lot of science coming from that mission."
Scientists are expecting the latest mission to yield some clues to the history of comets, asteroids and even the solar system.
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http://www.esa.int/esaCP/index.html (European Space Agency)
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