The asteroid P/2010 A2, imaged by OSIRIS on Rosetta

A view of the asteroid P/2010 A2, imaged by the OSIRIS Narrow Angle Camera on the ESA spacecraft Rosetta. The asteroid underwent a high-speed collision with a small rock, producing a trail of dust. On the left is the full field of view of the camera, covering 2.2 degrees on a side, which shows the crowded star field and nebula (in the constellation Taurus, the Bull) that the asteroid passed in front of in March 2010. On the right is a close-up of the asteroid. The close-up combines 16 separate images taking almost 4 hours of integration, and is 200 arcseconds on a side (approximately 140 000 km at the distance of the asteroid). The stellar background had to be carefully subtracted from each individual image before they were combined to reveal the faint dust trail.

Credit:

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

About the Image

Id:ann1071a
Type:Observation
Release date:13 October 2010, 19:00
Related announcements:ann1071
Size:4060 x 2012 px

About the Object

Name:P/2010 A2
Type:Solar System : Interplanetary Body : Asteroid
Category:Nebulae

Image Formats

Large JPEG
2.8 MB
Screensize JPEG
300.8 KB