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Sunset on Eros
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Eros' irregular shape gives rise to some stunning vistas at the time of sunrise or sunset. On March 6, 2000, the imager on the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft caught this view of a stunning sunset. In the pitch black foreground the Sun has already set, but just over the horizon another part of the asteroid remains lit. Eros' rotation period is just 5 hours, 16 minutes, so in the course one 24-hour Earth day an observer on Eros would be treated to four full cycles of sunrises and sunsets.
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