PIA03112: A Road map for Eros


A Road map for Eros

Caption:

These four image mosaics of Eros illustrate the reference system the NEAR team uses to locate points on the asteroid's surface. Choosing from a variety of systems, the team members use latitude and longitude as their directional guide.

Latitude is the angle between the equatorial plane and a line connecting the surface point with the center of the body. By convention, the north pole is +90 degrees, the equator is 0 degrees, and the south pole is -90 degrees. Longitude is the angle around the rotational axis separating the point on the surface from the "prime meridian." The prime meridian selected by NEAR scientists is drawn though a large, bright crater at one end of Eros (indicated by an arrow in the lower left mosaic).

Again by convention, "west longitude" is used for most planetary bodies, including Eros, and it increases west from the prime meridian.

Background Info:

Built and managed by The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, NEAR was the first spacecraft launched in NASA's Discovery Program of low-cost, small-scale planetary missions. See the NEAR web page at http://near.jhuapl.edu/ for more details.

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target 433 Eros
System Near Earth Objects
Target Type Asteroid
Mission NEAR Shoemaker
Instrument Host NEAR Shoemaker
Host Type Orbiter
Instrument Multi-Spectral Imager (MSI)
Detector
Extra Keywords Crater, Grayscale, Map, Rotation
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2001-02-17
Date in Caption
Image Credit NASA/JPL/JHUAPL
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA03112
Identifier PIA03112