topbanner_forum
  *

avatar image

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?

Login with username, password and session length
  • Saturday December 14, 2024, 2:38 pm
  • Proudly celebrating 15+ years online.
  • Donate now to become a lifetime supporting member of the site and get a non-expiring license key for all of our programs.
  • donate

Author Topic: Asteroid Vesta is 'last of a kind' rock  (Read 1974 times)

KynloStephen66515

  • Animated Giffer in Chief
  • Honorary Member
  • Joined in 2010
  • **
  • Posts: 3,761
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Asteroid Vesta is 'last of a kind' rock
« on: May 15, 2012, 06:32 PM »
Vesta is the only remaining example of the original objects that came together to form the rocky planets, like Earth and Mars, some 4.6 billion years ago.

This assessment is based on data from the Dawn probe which has been orbiting the second largest body in the asteroid belt for the past 10 months.

The findings from the Nasa mission are reported in Science magazine.

They confirm that Vesta has a layered interior with a metal-rich core, just as Earth, Mars, Venus and Mercury do.

Using information about the shape of the asteroid and its gravity field, scientists can even say something about the likely size of this core.

The Dawn team calculates it to be about 220km (135 miles) across, representing about 40% of the radius of Vesta, or roughly 18% of its total mass.

Read More: http://www.bbc.co.uk...environment-18027933