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Hidden Hollow
2011
 
Visting Vesta With Mike Romine
Discovered in 1807, asteroid Vesta is roughly spherical, measuring about 359 miles by 285 miles. It is the largest member of the asteroid belt, second in size only to Ceres. Vesta's surface is hypothesized to consist of basaltic rock which may have been of volcanic origin when the asteroid formed some 4.5 billion years ago. Because of its small size, the asteroid may have cooled rapidly - leaving its original surface intact. This means Vesta may have one of the oldest, most pristine surfaces known, a frozen snapshot of a devoid world where the materials and conditions are much as they were at the dawn of the Solar System.
The NASA probe - Dawn - made its first detailed observations of the surface in early August from a distance of 1,700 miles and spent several weeks taking images from that altitude. Afterwards, it spiraled in closer to the asteroid for an even closer look. The probe's survey phase around Vesta lasted 20 days with each orbit lasting approximately three days. Dawn began its orbit around Vesta in July 2011, after a four-year journey. Its early pictures revealed a rocky body with radically different northern and southern hemispheres. From Vesta's position in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, scientists hope to better understand the conditions of the early Solar System through surveying asteroids. Dawn will orbit Vesta for year before moving on to the largest asteroid, Ceres, where it will arrive in 2015.
 Amateur astronomer, Mike Romine, and his grandson Kane have been permanent fixtures at Warren Rupp Observatory for several years. Always will to lend a hand, and to learn, the team has put together a fascinating program about asteroid Vesta and the Dawn mission. Using both audio and visual techniques, they'll take you on a journey to this distant planetoid and give you amazing close-up views usually only seen by astronomers. You'll be swept across the surface to view cracks and craters, hills and valleys, asterisms and much, much more. Be sure to join Mike for this highly interesting and educational program!
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