Dust-covered surface with fresh small craters (Feb. 29, 2012): This Dawn FC (framing camera) image shows a relatively smooth part of Vesta’s surface. This smooth texture is probably due to the surface being covered in a layer of tiny dust particles. Generally, smaller particles look smoother than larger particles in images such as those taken by Dawn of Vesta. The outlines of some old, degraded craters can be seen below this later of dust. On top of this dust layer are young, small, fresh craters, which must have been formed by objects hitting the surface since the dust layer was laid down. There are also a number of grooves, running diagonally across the image, on top of the dust layer. This image is located in Vesta’s Bellicia quadrangle and the center of the image is 25.7 degrees north latitude, 22.4 degrees east longitude. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft obtained this image with its framing camera on Dec. 13, 2011. This image was taken through the camera’s clear filter. The distance to the surface of Vesta is 272 kilometers (163 miles) and the image has a resolution of about 25 meters (82 feet) per pixel. This image was acquired during the LAMO (low-altitude mapping orbit) phase of the mission. Image Credit: NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ UCLA/ MPS/ DLR/ IDA

Islands in the darkness (Feb. 27, 2012): This Dawn FC (framing camera) image shows a part of Vesta’s northern hemisphere, which is mostly in darkness. Since Dawn’s arrival at Vesta the sun has not illuminated Vesta’s most northerly latitudes. This is because the tilt of Vesta with respect to the sun has not been suitable for illuminating these parts of the asteroid. But, as Vesta progresses from its winter to its spring more of these northerly latitudes are being illuminated. As seen in this image the illumination begins by the low-angled sun revealing a few higher elevation parts of the surface, while the rest of the lower-lying surface is still covered in darkness. More of this area will need to be illuminated for any meaningful interpretations of it to take place. This image is located in Vesta’s Bellicia quadrangle and the center of the image is 50.6 degrees north latitude, 40.7 degrees east longitude. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft obtained this image with its framing camera on Nov. 19, 2011. This image was taken through the camera’s clear filter. The distance to the surface of Vesta is 275 kilometers (171 miles) and the image has a resolution of about 25 meters (82 feet) per pixel. This image was acquired during the transfer to LAMO (low-altitude mapping orbit) phase of the mission. Image Credit: NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ UCLA/ MPS/ DLR/ IDA

Apparent brightness and topography images of Cornelia crater (Feb. 23, 2012): The left-hand image is a Dawn FC (framing camera) image, which shows the apparent brightness of Vesta’s surface. The right-hand image is based on this apparent brightness image, which has had a color-coded height representation of the topography overlain onto it. The topography is calculated from a set of images that were observed from different viewing directions, which allows stereo reconstruction. The various colors correspond to the height of the area. The white and red areas in the topography image are the highest areas and the blue areas are the lowest areas. It is clear from both of the images that the two craters are depressions, which have lower elevations than the surrounding areas. But, the topography image shows that the left side of the image has a higher elevation than the right side, something that is not clear in the apparent brightness image. These images are located in Vesta’s Numisia quadrangle and the center of the images is 11.5 degrees south latitude, 224.6 degrees east longitude. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft obtained the apparent brightness image with its framing camera on Oct. 21, 2011. This image was taken through the camera’s clear filter. The distance to the surface of Vesta is 700 kilometers (435 miles) and the image has a resolution of about 70 meters (230 feet) per pixel. This image was acquired during the HAMO (high-altitude mapping orbit) phase of the mission. These images are lambert-azimuthal map projected. Image Credit: NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ UCLA/ MPS/ DLR/ IDA

Brightness and topography images of a dark hill (Feb. 21, 2011): The left-hand image is a Dawn FC (framing camera) brightness image, which shows the brightness/ darkness of Vesta’s surface. The right-hand image is based on this brightness image, which has had a color-coded height representation of topography overlain onto it. The topography is calculated from a set of images that were observed from different viewing directions, which allows stereo reconstruction. The various colors correspond to the height of the area. The white and red areas in the center and bottom of the topography image are the highest areas and the blue area in the top of the image is the lowest area. The dark hill shows up clearly as a red, high topography feature in the topography image. These images are located in Vesta’s Marcia quadrangle and the center of the images is 10.3 degrees north latitude, 163.2 degrees east longitude. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft obtained the brightness image with its framing camera on Oct. 21, 2011. This image was taken through the camera’s clear filter. The distance to the surface of Vesta is 700 kilometers (435 miles) and the image has a resolution of about 70 meters (230 feet) per pixel. This image was acquired during the HAMO (high-altitude mapping orbit) phase of the mission. These images are lambert-azimuthal map projected. Image Credit: NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ UCLA/ MPS/ DLR/ IDA

Impact ejecta deposits covering underlying topography (Feb. 17, 2012): This Dawn FC (framing camera) image shows impact ejecta deposits dominating Vesta’s landscape. This impact ejecta material was ejected from an impact crater located outside the imaged area. When this fine-grained ejecta was deposited on Vesta’s surface the underlying topography was smoothed out, which results in the subdued and blurred appearance of the landscape in this image. Large, house-sized boulders are scattered across the surface and these are especially clear in the lower right part of the image. Large boulders such as these are also frequently ejected as impact craters form. Some younger, fresher impact craters have been superimposed onto the ejecta deposits and are visible across the image. This image is located in Vesta’s Numisia quadrangle and the center of the image is 1.0 degrees south latitude, 269.0 degrees east longitude. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft obtained this image with its framing camera on Dec. 18, 2011. This image was taken through the camera’s clear filter. The distance to the surface of Vesta is 200 kilometers (124 miles) and the image has a resolution of about 18 meters (59 feet) per pixel. This image was acquired during the LAMO (low-altitude mapping orbit) phase of the mission. Image Credit: NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ UCLA/ MPS/ DLR/ IDA

Mass wasting on steep slopes (Feb. 15, 2012): This Dawn FC (framing camera) image shows many highly degraded craters in the top part of the image. These craters are roughly 4 kilometers (3 miles) in diameter and are so degraded that their rims are only partially visible. They are highly degraded because material has been lost down the steep slope below them. Downslope movement of material such as this is called mass wasting. The mass wasted material in this image is relatively smooth and is located on the slope that runs roughly horizontally across the image. The mass wasted material is sparsely cratered, unlike the other areas visible in the image. Mass wasting happens on steep slopes, which can occur along the sides of elongate depressions, called graben, and on the sides of craters. This image is located in Vesta’s Rheasilvia quadrangle and the center of the image is 80.4 degrees south latitude, 296.5 degrees east longitude. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft obtained this image with its framing camera on Dec. 13, 2011. This image was taken through the camera’s clear filter. The distance to the surface of Vesta is 239 kilometers (149 miles) and the image has a resolution of about 22 meters (72 feet) per pixel. This image was acquired during the LAMO (low-altitude mapping orbit) phase of the mission. Image Credit: NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ UCLA/ MPS/ DLR/ IDA

Vesta’s surface at high resolution: dominated by impact craters (Feb. 13, 2012): In this Dawn FC (framing camera) image a large number of craters, formed by collisions into the surface of Vesta, are visible. The craters in this image range in diameter from less than 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) to approximately 4 kilometers (2.5 miles). Whether you are looking at a high-resolution or a low-resolution image, various types of impact craters dominate Vesta’s surface. The relatively large circular depressions in this image are older, heavily degraded impact craters. The craters with sharper rims are fresher craters. Clusters of small secondary craters were created by the impact of material and boulders that were ejected when larger primary craters formed. This image is located in Vesta’s Oppia quadrangle and the center of the image is 18.6 degrees south latitude, 346.8 degrees east longitude. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft obtained this image with its framing camera on Dec. 13, 2011. This image was taken through the camera’s clear filter. The distance to the surface of Vesta is 190 kilometers (118 miles) and the image has a resolution of about 17.5 meters (57 feet) per pixel. This image was acquired during the LAMO (low-altitude mapping orbit) phase of the mission. Image Credit: NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ UCLA/ MPS/ DLR/ IDA

Chains and clusters of secondary craters (Feb. 9, 2012): This Dawn FC (framing camera) image shows numerous linear chains and clusters of small craters. These chains and clusters of craters were created by material that was ejected during the formation of a larger crater, which is located far outside of this image. These craters are called secondary craters because they are formed by material ejected from a primary impact of material from space. There is a large crater in shadow at the top left of the image. The chains and clusters do not originate from this crater because there are not orientated radially to it, as if they were ejected from the crater. This image is located in Vesta’s Gegania quadrangle and the center of the image is 20.8 degrees north latitude, 18.4 degrees east longitude. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft obtained this image with its framing camera on Dec. 13, 2011. This image was taken through the camera’s clear filter. The distance to the surface of Vesta is 196 kilometers (122 miles) and the image has a resolution of about 19 meters (62 feet) per pixel. This image was acquired during the LAMO (low-altitude mapping orbit) phase of the mission. Image Credit: NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ UCLA/ MPS/ DLR/ IDA

Small-scale surface variations seen with Dawn’s visible and infrared spectrometer (Feb. 7, 2012): This image shows a Dawn VIR (visible and infrared spectrometer) image, overlain on top of a FC (framing camera) image of the same region. The VIR image was acquired during the HAMO (high-altitude mapping orbit) phase of the Dawn mission and the FC image was acquired during the Survey phase of the mission. The small-scale brightness and darkness variations in this image demonstrate VIR’s ability to detect small-scale features on Vesta’s surface. The composition of these various features can then be analyzed. VIR data have shown that, in general, Vesta has a basaltic surface and that two prominent pyroxene absorption bands dominate Vesta’s spectrum. This image is located in Vesta’s Tuccia quadrangle and the center of the image is 21 degrees south latitude, 200 degrees east longitude. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft obtained the VIR image with its visible and infrared spectrometer on Oct. 02, 2011. The distance to the surface of Vesta is around 700 kilometers (435 miles) and the average image resolution is 170 meters per pixel. Image Credit: NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ UCLA/ ASI/ INAF/ IAPS/ MPS/ DLR/ IDA

Ejecta and dark rayed crater (Feb. 3, 2012): This Dawn FC (framing camera) image shows part of the ejecta deposit surrounding the ‘snowman’ craters, the largest of which has been named Marcia. Ejecta deposits consist of small debris thrown out of craters that are formed by an impact. Because they are made of small debris, ejecta deposits commonly have a smooth appearance. The ejected material also has a bubbly texture and some smaller, younger craters superposed onto it. In the bottom right part of the image there is a roughly 2 kilometer (1 mile) diameter crater with dark rays of ejecta extending out from it. These rays have an impressive range of roughly 10 kilometers (6 miles). This image is located in Vesta’s Marcia quadrangle and the center of the image is 19.6 degrees north latitude, 179.7 degrees east longitude. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft obtained this image with its framing camera on Oct. 26, 2011. This image was taken through the camera’s clear filter. The distance to the surface of Vesta is 700 kilometers (435 miles) and the image has a resolution of about 70 meters (230 feet) per pixel. This image was acquired during the HAMO (high-altitude mapping orbit) phase of the mission. Image Credit: NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ UCLA/ MPS/ DLR/ IDA