This image, processed to show the true size of the giant asteroid Vesta, shows Vesta in front of a spectacular background of stars. It was obtained by the framing camera aboard NASA's Dawn spacecraft on May 3, 2011, from a distance of about 1.2 million kilometers (750,000 miles). Since Vesta is so bright that it outshines its starry background, Dawn team members commanded a long exposure time to make the stars visible. They corrected the resulting exaggerated size of Vesta by superimposing a short exposure image of the target asteroid, showing its true size. Vesta is the small, bright pearl in the middle of the image.
Vesta is 330 miles (530 kilometers) in diameter and the second most massive object in the asteroid belt. But, as the inset shows, Vesta is approximately five pixels across in size in Dawn's early approach images.
This and other images will help Dawn fine tune navigation during its approach to Vesta, with arrival expected on July 16, 2011.
Photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
Note: For more information, see NASA's Dawn Captures First Image of Nearing Asteroid.
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