geology – Astronomy Now

Putting Pluto’s geology on the map

12 February 2016 Astronomy Now

To help mission scientists understand the diversity of Pluto’s terrain and to piece together how the dwarf planet’s surface has formed and evolved over time, NASA’s New Horizons mission scientists have started constructing geological maps. The base map for this interpretation is a mosaic of 12 images obtained by the spacecraft’s Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI).

Boldly go explore an asteroid with NASA’s Vesta Trek

2 April 2015 Astronomy Now

Data gathered from multiple instruments aboard NASA’s Dawn spacecraft have been compiled into Vesta Trek — a free, web-based application that provides detailed visualisations of one of the largest asteroids in our Solar System.

Dawn spacecraft’s geological maps of asteroid Vesta

25 November 2014 Astronomy Now

Launched in 2007, Nasa’s Dawn spacecraft orbited and surveyed large asteroid Vesta between July 2011 and September 2012. This detailed map is the culmination of a two-and-a-half-year geological mapping campaign.