Asteroid 21 Lutetia
Date: 10 Jul 2010

Asteroid Lutetia has been revealed as a battered world of many craters. ESA's Rosetta mission returned the first close-up images of the asteroid showing it is most probably a primitive survivor from the violent birth of the solar system.


Closest approach took place at 18:10 CEST, at a distance of 3,162 km. The images show that Lutetia is heavily cratered, having suffered many impacts during its 4.5 billion years of existence. The images confirm that Lutetia is an elongated body, with its longest side around 130 km.


The images come from the OSIRIS instrument, which combines a wide angle and a narrow angle camera. Details down to a scale of 60 m can be seen over the entire surface of Lutetia.


Last Update: 29 Mar 2011 (AMB)

Credit: ESA 2010 MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/RSSD/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA