A Visit to Asteroid Vesta

Light and Dark Spots

Bright areas appear everywhere on Vesta but especially in and around craters. They seem to be composed of material from Vesta spread around during collisions.

Scientists think that darker areas indicate materials from carbon-rich asteroids hitting Vesta at slow speeds or materials melted during collisions with high-speed asteroids.


Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/ MPS/DLR/IDA/UMD Vesta surface showing light and dark areas Bright material extends out from the Canuleia crater on Vesta.