NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day 11 March 2023: Asteroid Bennu in 3D
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Room is extensive and terrifying, but at the exact same time, it is deeply intriguing and mysterious. Our fascination with area and knowing the origin of the photo voltaic program has led researchers to 1 of its major celestial nemeses. Nothing at all exemplifies this romance of individuals with area greater than the NASA OSIRIS-REx mission. This area mission despatched an unmanned spacecraft to the most likely harmful asteroid Bennu to collect rock samples and it is now on its way to Earth. Curiously, there is a major likelihood that this asteroid can strike the Earth in the yr 2182.
NASA’s Astronomy Photograph of the Working day is a image displaying the Bennu asteroid as it was captured by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft while it took a very last look before traveling in the direction of the Earth. Bennu is a carbonaceous asteroid in the Apollo group discovered by the LINEAR Task on 11 September 1999. It is named after the historic Egyptian mythological bird associated with the Solar, creation, and rebirth. It is considered that the asteroid consists of pristine factors and molecules that can shed mild on the origin of the photo voltaic method and the origin of life on Earth.
Apparently, OSIRIS-REx is not the initially mission to an asteroid to obtain its sample. The Japanese probe Hayabusa returned samples from 25143 Itokawa in 2010, and Hayabusa2 returned from 162173 Ryugu in December 2020.
The photograph was captured by PolyCam on the OSIRIS REx spacecraft. The stereo consequences had been presented by Patrick Vantuyne.
NASA’s description of the image
Place on your crimson/blue eyeglasses and float subsequent to asteroid 101955 Bennu. Formed like a spinning toy top rated with boulders littering its tough floor, the small Solar Program world is about 1 Empire Point out Constructing (a lot less than 500 meters) throughout. Frames applied to build this 3D anaglyph were taken by PolyCam on the OSIRIS_REx spacecraft on December 3, 2018 from a length of about 80 kilometers. With a sample from the asteroid’s rocky floor on board, OSIRIS_REx departed Bennu’s vicinity in May well of 2021 and is now enroute to earth Earth. The robotic spacecraft is scheduled to return the sample to Earth this September.
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Source hyperlink On March 11, 2023, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) released its Astronomy Picture of the Day which featured the 3D visualization of asteroid Bennu. Asteroid Bennu, which was first discovered in 1999, is about 1,642 feet (500 meters) in diameter, making it the second-largest near-Earth object ever discovered.
The 3D visualization was made from images taken from NASA’s OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft which was launched in September 2016 to study the asteroid and collect samples of it. The images were used to create a stunning three-dimensional model of the asteroid, which corresponds with the spacecraft’s observations. This model offers a unique perspective of the asteroid’s shape, structure, and even its movement as it rotates in space.
The OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft is currently orbiting the asteroid, with the goal of eventually collecting samples to bring back to Earth. This mission is expected to provide a wealth of information about Bennu, and will help scientists in their understanding of how planets form and evolve. The data collected can also provide insight into how asteroids, like Bennu, can potentially impact our planet.
The 3D visualization of asteroid Bennu will undoubtedly provide valuable information in the years to come, and NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day offering was truly a sight to behold.
