October 12, 2011 Scientists with NASA's Dawn mission are sharing
with other scientists and the public their early information
about the southern hemisphere of the giant asteroid Vesta. The
findings were presented today at the annual meeting of the
Geological Society of America in Minneapolis, Minn. Dawn, which
has been orbiting Vesta since mid-July, has found that the
asteroid's southern hemisphere boasts one of the largest
mountains in the solar system. Other findings show that Vesta's
surface, viewed by Dawn at different wavelengths, has striking
diversity in its composition, particularly around craters.
Science findings also include an in-depth analysis of a set of
equatorial troughs on Vesta and a closer look at the object's
intriguing craters. The surface appears to be much rougher than
most asteroids in the main asteroid belt. In addition,
preliminary dates from a method that uses the number of craters
indicate that areas in the southern hemisphere are as young as 1
billion to 2 billion years old, much