Fresh crater on the rim of Tuccia

Filed under pretty pictures, asteroids, asteroid 4 Vesta, Dawn, impact cratering

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Near the center of this Dawn photo is the approximately 8-kilometer-diameter bright ray crater Tuccia. Tuccia crater has a slightly degraded and rounded rim and is not as fresh as the approximately 3-kilometer crater located on its rim. This smaller, fresher crater must be younger than the more degraded Tuccia crater.

NASA / JPL / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA

These craters are located approximately 40 kilometers north of the rim of Vesta's large south polar basin. The hummocky terrain of Vesta's south polar region is visible in the bottom part of this image.  Dawn obtained this image November 8, 2011, from a distance of 488 kilometers, with a resolution of about 46 meters per pixel.