WHAT DOES AN ASTEROID LOOK LIKE?

         WHAT DOES AN ASTEROID LOOK LIKE? 

 The image to the right was created from a composite of  four photographs of asteroid 433, also known as Eros, in our solar system's asteroid belt. The photographs were taken by the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission in February 2000. The NEAR spacecraft entered Eros's orbit about 200   miles from the asteroid and about 160,000,000 miles from Earth. A year later, the NEAR spacecraft landed on Eros and confirmed that it is without atmosphere or water  This asteroid is heavily cratered, suggesting that it is    relatively old. The large crater  visible here measures about four miles across. In depression  can be seen a boulder equivalent in size to a single family home.