The Beauty of Asteroid 4 Vesta - Let Dawn Bring in the New Multimedia!

As the title implies, Dawn has brought in the multimedia, of photographs, topographical information, animations of rotation, and much more, that is. Can you remember when Vesta was just a small pinprick of light in the night sky (relative to Dawn)? Yes, we have gone a long way on our journey with Vesta - and after the magnificent pictures brought back when Dawn came into orbit, we receive much more, and here they are: Dawn unveiled. But first, let us recap on our journey with Dawn. May 11, 2011, I posted concerning Dawn's first images of Vesta.

‘A Journey to the Beginning of Our Solar System,’ gracefully rests under the title at the Dawn Mission’s main page at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Explained in an article entitled Dawn: NASA Fact Sheet, that puzzling slogan is interpreted: “Exploring a new frontier, the Dawn mission will journey back in time over 4.5 billion years to the beginning of our Solar System...how is this possible?...thousands of small bodies orbit the Sun [between Mars and Jupiter]...They formed at the same time and in similar environments as the bodies that grew to be the rocky planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars). Scientists theorize that the asteroids were budding planets and never given the opportunity to grow...” Although this mission is based on the evolutionist worldview, Dawn will still collect information about these ‘minor planets’ and report back to earth, whether biased or not. Actually, in the article, Dawn: A mission in development forexploration of main belt asteroids Vesta and Ceres, Dawn’s mission is stated clear and more simpler: “Dawn is on development for a mission to explore main belt asteroids in order to yield insights into important questions about the formation and evolution of the solar system.” This sums up everything Dawn will do until the mission is over in 2016, after leaving Ceres. 

Errata for the May 11 Article of Dawn and Vesta: I wrote in the article somewhere that Vesta was the most massive object in the Solar System, NOT! The answer was written in the comment, found here.  In June, correctly June 14, 2011 (approximately a month later), we have about Dawn and Vesta (Dawn is getting closer to Vesta every day now...):

Before starting to orbit Vesta on July 16, Dawn will slow to about seventy-five mph, and "NASA is expecting to release more images on a weekly basis, with more frequent images available once the spacecraft begins collecting science at Vesta," the Dawn mission proclaims. Therefore: you can visit our daily updated page with new pictures and media here.

In July, I did four posts on Vesta (Dawn was approaching closer by now), here are their highlights:

[Vesta's Lunar Possibilities] Only eight more days and counting until Dawn reaches the acclaimed asteroid 4 Vesta! But, let's pause from this excitement and consider the fact that Vesta may house moons. You might ask, 'How can an asteroid have moons?' or 'It's too small to have any gravitational pull strong enough to capture anything.' Well, you are sadly mistaken. We don't know if asteroid 4 Vesta has moons, but an asteroid having moons is quite common...

[The Uniting Date is Set] After predicting the NASA spacecraft Dawn to reach asteroid 4 Vesta on July 16, NASA realized that Dawn will reach its destination earlier than before, (just by a matter of time zones and location). After being launched in September of 2007, NASA has waited almost four years for their beloved spacecraft to reach this forbid world, for the sole purpose of investigating the earliest part of the solar-system's history.

[Dawn Spreads Vesta's Secrets] O beautiful Vesta! Vesta has become quite a spectacular asteroid, not only because of its beauty (as you can see in the image below), but becasue of everything Dawn has sent us so far. After Dawn reached asteroid 4 Vesta this past weekend, continual pictures and information has been sent to our planet. Vesta isn't just any old asteroid.

To present the new pictures of Vesta, and animations brought back (Their source is here - Pictures are updated every day):

Dense Region of Impact Craters

September 23 , 2011

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft obtained this image of the giant asteroid Vesta with its framing camera on Aug. 14 2011. This image was taken through the camera’s clear filter. The image has a resolution of about 260 meters per pixel.

Image Credit: NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ UCLA/ MPS/ DLR/ IDA

- Full Image and Caption

 

A Full-Frame View of Vesta

September 22 , 2011

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft obtained this image with its framing camera on July 24, 2011. This image was taken through the camera’s clear filter.

Image Credit: NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ UCLA/ MPS/ DLR/ IDA

- Full Image and Caption

 

Young and Old Crater at the Night and Day Boundary on Vesta

September 21 , 2011

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft obtained this image with its framing camera on August 11, 2011. This image was taken through the camera’s clear filter. The image has a resolution of about 260 meters per pixel.

Image Credit: NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ UCLA/ MPS/ DLR/ IDA

- Full Image and Caption