The Many Faces of Eros

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Caption:

This montage shows structural features on Eros obtained by NEAR Shoemaker from several different orbits. Any underlying, deep-seated structures probably formed as a result of large impacts to the asteroid's surface, in the same way that a car windshield fractures when it is hit by a stone. Later, movement of regolith may have modified the structure's surface expressions.

Troughs -- Shallow troughs (top left) are found within the saddle region of Eros and are very closely aligned. A large flat-floored trough (bottom left) is found in the saddle.

Pits -- The top right image shows a chain of pits, most likely the result of loose regolith (impact-derived soil) draining into a crack on the asteroid's surface.

Ridges -- At center, right is the ridge that winds from Eros' saddle area around the north pole down to the 5.3-km crater.

Fractures -- The center image shows the region where the ridge ends. The ridge comes up from the bottom of the image and, near the center, appears to turn into a set of small fractures.

Grooves -- The bottom, right image shows grooves on a relatively smooth area of Eros' western hemisphere. These are evenly spaced and some look like they have raised rims.

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.

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