Mathilde

Caption NASA originale:"Two different views of asteroid 253 Mathilde were obtained by the NEAR spacecraft on June 27, 1997. The image at left was obtained as the spacecraft approached Mathilde with its camera pointed near the direction of the Sun; only a few of the prominent ridges on Mathilde are illuminated. The visible area at left is 29 Km (approx. 18 miles) high and the phase angle (the angle from Sun-Mathilde spacecraft) is 136°. As the spacecraft receded from Mathilde, it observed the asteroid (about 60 Km - or 38 miles across) almost fully lit by the Sun at a phase angle of 43° (right image). Mathilde's irregular shape results from a long history of severe collisions with smaller asteroids. The largest visible crater is about 30 Km (19 miles) in diameter".