Asteroid collision that spawned Vesta's asteroid family occurred more recently than thought
Thursday, May 10, 2012 - 22:30
in Astronomy & Space
Scientists have discovered evidence that the giant impact crater Rheasilvia on Asteroid Vesta was created in a collision that occurred only about one billion years ago, much more recently than previously thought. This result is based on the analysis of high-resolution images obtained with the Dawn spacecraft, which entered orbit around Vesta in July 2011.