The Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 3 observed Vesta in February 2010 to aid the Dawn mission in planning their orbital tour of the asteroid, scheduled to begin in the summer of 2011. Hubble's images were taken in near-ultraviolet and blue wavelengths, so this view is not representative of what the human eye would see. Dark areas are interpreted to be regions of basalt; red areas are likely "regolith" or dust. The observations were made on February 25 and 28, 2010. This view is just a still from a 146-frame movie of the asteroid's rotation. A deep crater appears to be in the center of the view.

NASA / ESA / STScI / UMd