Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

July 12, 1998

Asteroid Gaspra's Best Face
Credit: The Galileo Project, NASA

Explanation: Asteroid 951 Gaspra is a huge rock tumbling in space. Gaspra became one of the best-studied asteroids in 1991 when the spacecraft Galileo flew by. In the above photograph, subtle color variations have been exaggerated to highlight changes in reflectivity, surface structure and composition. Gaspra is about 20 kilometers long and orbits the Sun in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

小行星加斯普拉(951 Gaspra)是一塊在太空中翻滾的巨岩。 1991年,當伽利略號太空船飛越時,加斯普拉成為研究得最透徹的小行星之一。 在上面的照片中,細微的顏色差異經過誇大,以突出反射率、表面結構和成分的變化。 Gaspra長約20公里,在火星和木星之間的主要小行星帶中繞太陽運行。 Gaspra的研究為科學家們深入了解小行星的組成、形態和演化歷程提供了寶貴的資料。

Tomorrow's picture: GRB 980703: A Reassuring Redshift


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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA)
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