Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Vesta Rocks

NASA ^ | December 10, 2011 | (see photo credit)

[SunkenCiv]

Explanation: These colorful images are of thin slices of meteorites viewed through a polarizing microscope. Part of the group classified as HED meteorites for their mineral content (Howardite, Eucrite, Diogenite), they likely fell to Earth from 4 Vesta, the mainbelt asteroid currently being explored by NASA's Dawn spacecraft. Why are they thought to be from Vesta? Because the HED meteorites have visible and infrared spectra that match the spectrum of that small world. The hypothesis of their origin on Vesta is also consistent with data from Dawn's ongoing observations. Excavated by impacts, the diogenites shown here would have originated deep within the crust of Vesta. Similar rocks are also found in the lower crust of planet Earth. A sample scale is indicated by the white bars, each 2 millimeters long.

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[SunkenCiv]

[Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Hap McSween (Univ. Tennessee), A. Beck and T. McCoy (Smithsonian Inst.)]

[SunkenCiv]

Uh-oh, sorry, a day late, how'd I manage that? I was parked here all day yesterday.

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[Psycho_Bunny]

Wow...some samples NASA hasn’t “lost” yet.....

[NormsRevenge]

now how the heck do they know what these chunks came off of.. what is the gold standard.. btw,, is there any gold on Vesta? ;-)

[mikrofon]

Vesta Rocks

Werrrd!

[JoeProBono]

[left that other site]

I can make jewelry out of that!

[ixtl]

“Vesta Rocks!”

Of course it does.