Asteroid Ryugu looks like an Octahedron

[uzn]

The Jaxa´s Spaceprobe Hayabusa 2 closed in on Ryugu up to 100 km and shot some amazing Pictures.
http://global.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/hayabusa2/images/hayabusa2_overview_01_l.jpg

http://global.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/hayabusa2/images/hayabusa2_overview_02_l.jpg

The shape seems to be roughly an octaeder. The Asteroid is about 100 km wide. And on top at the pole there seems to be an highly reflective area or a light.

https://www.spektrum.de//fm/912/thumbnails/fig20180621-2.png.4626262.png

http://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/images/9-small-bodies/2018/20180621_fig20180621-2-15_f840.png

http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/topics/20180619je/img/fig2.png

rotating Ryugu :
http://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/images/9-small-bodies/2018/20180618_anime_obs20180614_vband_v5_f840.gif

[Bill Ryan]

Thanks for this! I had no idea what an octaeder was, so I looked it up: it appears to be Dutch for octahedron, but is very occasionally used in English. So I took the liberty of changing the thread title, which I trust is okay.

:thumbsup:

[uzn]

Speaking of Asteroids:
Here are all images done by the Rosetta Spaceprobe. Published by the Max-Plank-Institute.
(over 100.000 Images)

https://imagearchives.esac.esa.int/

https://imagearchives.esac.esa.int/_data/i/upload/2017/04/05/20170405141734-22826492-xx.png

https://imagearchives.esac.esa.int/upload/2015/03/27/20150327143844-1748eccb.png

https://imagearchives.esac.esa.int/upload/2016/09/26/20160926122618-b3501ab9.png

https://imagearchives.esac.esa.int/upload/2015/05/26/20150526142423-194c8168.png

[Bill Ryan]

Some of those high-res images ^^ are very interesting... there are apparently a bunch of quite large, loose rocks sitting there on what's quite a small object, presumably simply held by the asteroid's gravity. I'd not have thought that its gravity was enough to do that.

[Hervé]

On the other hand, gravity is not enough on Vesta to collapse a 13 miles high mountain unlike on Earth where, unless continuously and actively propped up, mountain ranges have a tendency to sink to buoyancy equilibrium:


Asteroid Vesta, with a 13-mile-high mountain now visible to the naked eye (https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/space/blogs/asteroid-13-mile-high-mountain-now-visible)

Michael D'Estries Mother Nature Network (https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/space/blogs/asteroid-13-mile-high-mountain-now-visible)
Wed, 20 Jun 2018 12:01 UTC


https://www.sott.net/image/s23/474292/large/vesta_asteroid_653x0_q80_crop_.jpg (https://www.sott.net/image/s23/474292/full/vesta_asteroid_653x0_q80_crop_.jpg)
Vesta, as captured by NASA's Dawn spacecraft in 2011, features a mountain that rises more than 65,000 feet above the asteroid's south pole. © NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA


Look up in nighttime sky anytime between now and July 16, and you just might spy our solar system's brightest asteroid.

Vesta, a 326-mile-wide object residing in the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars, is about to make its closest approach to Earth in nearly two decades. But don't worry, unlike other close calls (https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/space/blogs/incoming-asteroid-test-nasas-planetary-defense-network) with asteroids in recent history, Vesta is in a stable orbit around the sun that will only bring it within 106 million miles of Earth. Nonetheless, this convergence will make it visible to the naked eye, with a magnitude brightness approaching a maximum of 5.3 this week.

Unlike other asteroids, Vesta's internal geology mimics those of terrestrial planets, with a metallic iron-nickel core covered by a surface crust of basaltic rock. In fact, it's this "frozen lava" that gives Vesta its beautiful reflectivity, casting back 43 percent of all light that hits it. (For comparison, our moon only reflects about 12 percent of all light.)

A 2011 visit by the NASA space probe Dawn (https://vestatrek.jpl.nasa.gov/vesta/) confirmed Vesta as our solar system's lone remaining protoplanet, an embryonic remnant of the material that created future worlds like Earth.
"We now know that Vesta is the only intact, layered planetary building block surviving from the very earliest days of the solar system," Carol Raymond, deputy principal investigator for the Dawn spacecraft, said during a 2012 press conference.
An imposing mountain borne from a violent past


https://www.sott.net/image/s23/474293/large/vesta_peak_838x0_q80.jpg (https://www.sott.net/image/s23/474293/full/vesta_peak_838x0_q80.jpg)
Vesta's 65,000-foot high peak rises from the center of the Rheasilvia impact crater. A much older crater, named Veneneia, was discovered underlying it. © NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA


Ancient pedigree isn't the only feature of Vesta that makes it a geologic celestial wonder. Its south pole is also home to one of the tallest known mountains in the solar system.
"The south polar mountain is larger than the big island of Hawaii, the largest mountain on Earth, as measured from the ocean floor," Dawn mission investigator Chris Russell told reporters.

"It is almost as high as the highest mountain in the solar system, the shield volcano Olympus Mons on Mars."
Whereas Olympus Mons rises nearly 14 miles (72,000 feet) above the surface of Mars, the unnamed peak on Vesta is just under 13 miles (65,000 feet) tall. It's located in a 314-mile-wide crater, also one of the largest in the solar system, named Rheasilvia, after the mythological vestal virgins of Rome. It's theorized that Rheasilvia and its central peak were formed roughly 1 billion years ago from a massive planetary scale impact that delivered a glancing blow at an estimated 11,000 miles per hour.
"Vesta was lucky," Peter Schultz, professor of earth, environmental, and planetary sciences at Brown University, said in a statement (https://news.brown.edu/articles/2014/11/vesta).

"If this collision had been straight on, there would have been one less large asteroid and only a family of fragments left behind." Schultz published a study (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0019103514005302) on the asteroid's violent past in 2014.
Vesta's scrape with disaster would turn into a rare opportunity for scientists on Earth an eon later. The collision that rocked its south pole is estimated to have ejected at least 1 percent of the asteroid's mass into space, scattering a vast swath of debris throughout the solar system. Some of those rocks later made their way to Earth. In fact, it's estimated that some 5 percent of all space rocks found on Earth originated from Vesta, making it only a handful of solar system objects beyond Earth (including Mars and the moon) where scientists have a laboratory sample.

Look for Saturn to point the way


https://www.sott.net/image/s23/474294/large/vesta_sky_838x0_q80.jpg (https://www.sott.net/image/s23/474294/full/vesta_sky_838x0_q80.jpg)

Vesta as it will appear in the night sky over the next several months. The asteroid will be visible to the naked eye until the middle of July. © In-The-Sky.org


While Vesta is our brightest asteroid, its distance and small size still make it a sporting challenge to pick out with the naked eye. Your best bet is to use some high-powered binoculars or a telescope. Either way, follow these instructions from Bob King at Sky and Telescope (http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/vesta-2018-opposition/) to locate the correct patch of sky.
"To find it, begin at Saturn then star-hop with the naked eye or binoculars to 3.8-magnitude Mu (μ) Sagittarii. The asteroid is located 2.5°-4° northwest of that star through mid-June. Despite its location in star-rich Sagittarius, Vesta has little competition from similarly bright stars, making it easy to spot." According to those who have previously spotted Vesta, the asteroid exhibits a yellowish hue and looks very much like a star. Grab a lawn chair, ditch the light pollution and look up! Vesta won't be this close to Earth again until 2040.

[Foxie Loxie]

I wonder how the Electric Universe theory would explain Vesta? :confused:

[Dennis Leahy]

Ryugu looks like a rough diamond crystal.


http://projectavalon.net/forum4/attachment.php?attachmentid=38308

[Dennis Leahy]

Bill, when you climb Vesta, be sure to take extra water for Mara.

[Foxie Loxie]

Dennis..the attachment didn't work for me?

[uzn]

Octahedron or german Oktaeder ;)

Brilliant (Diamond)
http://www.renesim.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/diamant-oktaeder-kristall.jpg
From an Octahedron Diamond you get a Brilliant if cut perfectly.
http://www.renesim.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/brillant-entwicklung.jpg

Pyrit
https://www.mineralienatlas.de/VIEWmaxFULL.php/param/1264186586-Pyrit.jpg

Zircon
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2569/2622/products/15g-lot-zircon-octahedron-crystals-e0701_1024x1024.jpg

[Dennis Leahy]

Foxie, I don't know why the attachment doesn't work for you. Maybe Paul or Ilie knows why some attachments don't work. I added the attachment as an image, but instead got a link to the image at Avalon's server. In a search just now, I cannot find that same image to try a different way.

{edit: Looks like Hervé was the wizard on this fix. Thanks, Hervé!}

[Star Tsar]

The mythology behind this asteroid interests me, Ryugu-Jo the undersea place of the dragon sea king Ryugin.

6nVuijKIZSY

[uzn]

Hayabusa 2 is closing in on Ryugu, now seen fom 40 km away.

http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/topics/20180625je/img/fig20180625-2_L.jpg

[uzn]

Now Hayabusa 2 is 22 km away.
https://www.dlr.de/dlr/Portaldata/1/Resources/portal_bilder/2018/2018_3/26062018_Hayabusa2_Mascot_Asteroid_Ryugu_nah_xl.jpg

[uzn]

Orbits of Ryugu and Hayabusa 2

https://www.skyandtelescope.com/wp-content/uploads/20151214_hayabusa2_1.jpg

[amor]

Close inspection of one of the pictures shows clearly RIGHT ANGLES. I would venture to say the Space Fleet has colonized this asteroid and is possibly mining it.

[CurEus]

Some of those high-res images ^^ are very interesting... there are apparently a bunch of quite large, loose rocks sitting there on what's quite a small object, presumably simply held by the asteroid's gravity. I'd not have thought that its gravity was enough to do that.

Looks like a gravel pit.......no idea how anything stays attached to something hurtling through space. Must be a bit more than just "gravity"

[panpravda]

I wonder how the Electric Universe theory would explain Vesta? :confused:

Only to start off with, Foxie Loxie, the Electric Universe model would explain the most obvious aspects of what can be seen on the surface of Vesta ... its craters, riles, and mountainous features; all of this being due to EDM (Electrical Discharge Machining - it's a commonly used practice in manufacturing so, you can look it up). Thanks for expressing an interest in the EU model ... more and more people are starting to wake up to it.

[uzn]

The german MASCOT Probe that is carried by the japanese Hayabusa 2 will land on Ryugu in Oktober 2018.

https://www.dlr.de/dlr/Portaldata/1/Resources/portal_bilder/2018/2018_3/26062018_Hayabusa2_Mascot_Umlauf_xl.jpg

[uzn]

NASA compares Hayabusa 2 and their OSIRIS-REx mission.

https://www.asteroidmission.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/OSIRISRExHayabusa2Timeline-Comparison.png


Bennu and Ryugu comparrison:

https://www.asteroidmission.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/BennuRyuguComparison.png

[uzn]

Asteroid size comparrison:

Itokawa (Hayabusa) - Ryugu (Hayabusa 2)
http://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/images/comparisons/20180627_itokawa-and-ryugu-to-scale.png

Many Asteroids with Vesta and Ceres missing:
http://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/images/comparisons/20180627_asteroids_comets_sc_0-000-020_2018_color_with_future.png

[uzn]

Stereoscopic Version:

https://brianmay.com/brian/brianssb/18/Ryugu_rotates_fast_from_Hayabusa_anaglyph_gif_cr_Claudia_Manzoni.gif

https://media.giphy.com/media/8PvAjqaMhE0AmnJRd7/giphy.gif

¤=[Post Update]=¤

Some new Images of Ryugu

http://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/images/9-small-bodies/2018/20180711_fig1.jpg

http://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/images/9-small-bodies/2018/20180711_fig2.jpg

[uzn]

Oh Boy, now Hayabusa 2 is just 6 km away from Ryugu.

http://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/images/9-small-bodies/2018/20180725_ryugu_home_20180720-0700_f840.jpg

[Star Tsar]

Latest from Hyabusa2


Space.com

Hyabusa2 Spacecraft Sees Shadow Cast On Asteroid

Published 16th September 2018

From 1968 feet above asteroid Ryugu on 12th September 2018 Hyabusa2 returns a portion of data

Read all about it here: https://www.space.com/40161-hayabusa2.html

_DkzU-nj_90

[1paintertoo]

JAXA has successfully landed two rovers on Ryugu:

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/asteroid-japan-rovers-spacecraft-hayabusa-2-ryugu-jaxa-minerva-a8550981.html

[Hervé]

Japan's 'hopping rovers' land successfully, send first images of Ryugu asteroid (https://www.rt.com/news/439144-japan-rovers-ryugu-asteroid/)

RT (https://www.rt.com/news/439144-japan-rovers-ryugu-asteroid/)
Sun, 23 Sep 2018 03:01 UTC


https://www.sott.net/image/s24/489414/large/1_Ryugu_asteroid_JAXA.jpg (https://www.sott.net/image/s24/489414/full/1_Ryugu_asteroid_JAXA.jpg)
Ryugu Asteroid © JAXA


A pair of tiny JAXA robots, released by the Hayabusa2 probe, have successfully landed on the Ryugu asteroid and began transmitting images from the surface of the "potentially hazardous" object four years after the mission launch.

The first images from the astronomical object flying at some 300 million kilometers from the Earth were received by Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) immediately after the MINERVA-II1 rovers touched down on the asteroid on Friday.

The first image was taken after the separation of the two cylinder-shaped explorers from the Hayabusa2 space probe. Snapped while the rover was rotating, the blurred image shows Hayabusa2 at the top of the screen with the surface of Ryugu depicted at the bottom.


https://www.sott.net/image/s24/489454/large/1_Hayabusa_2_probe_Pintarest.jpg (https://www.sott.net/image/s24/489454/full/1_Hayabusa_2_probe_Pintarest.jpg)
Hayabusa 2 probe © Pintarest


The second image received on Earth was captured by Rover-1B and shows a much clearer definition of the surface of Ryugu in the lower right corner, with sunlight reflection visible on the top left. The third image released by JAXA was snapped by Rover-1A as it hopped on the surface of its target, offering yet another glimpse of the mysterious object.



(https://twitter.com/haya2e_jaxa)
https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/538084594512187392/2swQgORB_bigger.png HAYABUSA2@JAXA‏ @haya2e_jaxa (https://twitter.com/haya2e_jaxa)


Photo taken by Rover-1B on Sept 21 at ~13:07 JST. It was captured just after separation from the spacecraft. Ryugu's surface is in the lower right. The misty top left region is due to the reflection of sunlight. 1B seems to rotate slowly after separation, minimising image blur.


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DnszMxtUUAAS_cD.jpg 5:56 AM - 22 Sep 2018

94 replies 1,657 retweets 4,069 likes



https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/538084594512187392/2swQgORB_bigger.png HAYABUSA2@JAXA‏ @haya2e_jaxa (https://twitter.com/haya2e_jaxa) Sep 22 (https://twitter.com/haya2e_jaxa/status/1043486871504867329)

This dynamic photo was captured by Rover-1A on September 22 at around 11:44 JST. It was taken on Ryugu's surface during a hop. The left-half is the surface of Ryugu, while the white region on the right is due to sunlight. (Hayabusa2 Project)


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dns1vIhU8AEJeXX.jpg 133 replies 2,802 retweets 6,578 likes

"MINERVA-II1 is the world's first rover (mobile exploration robot) to land on the surface of an asteroid," JAXA said (http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/en/topics/20180922e/). "This is also the first time for autonomous movement and picture capture on an asteroid surface."

Measuring just 18-by-7cms and weighing about one kilo, MINERVA-II1 rovers will take advantage of Ryugu's low gravity to hop about the surface of the asteroid, which is approximately one kilometer in diameter. The robots will take photos and temperature readings of Ryugu before Hayabusa2 space probe lands on the asteroid's surface in 2019.

Hayabusa2 was launched in December 2014 and made its rendezvous with Ryugu in June this year. Once the probe completes taking samples from the asteroid, it will head back to Earth in late 2020.

[Hervé]

WATCH First-Ever VIDEO Filmed From Asteroid Surface (https://sputniknews.com/science/201809281068411207-video-ryugu-asteroid-surface/)

Sputnik Tech (https://sputniknews.com/science/)
09:57 28.09.2018


https://cdn5.img.sputniknews.com/images/106841/11/1068411181.jpg


© Photo: Twitter / HAYABUSA2@JAXA (https://twitter.com/haya2e_jaxa/status/1045278816619261953)


Two Japanese rovers, deployed by an unmanned spacecraft to a space rock 300 million kilometers away from the Earth last week, have transmitted their first images from the surface of the asteroid - and they are spectacular.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has published a video clip alongside a number of photos from the surface of Ryugu asteroid, a diamond-shaped space rock nearly 1km in diameter orbiting the Sun between the Earth and Mars.



HAYABUSA2@JAXA‏ @haya2e_jaxa (https://twitter.com/haya2e_jaxa)

Rover-1B succeeded in shooting a movie on Ryugu’s surface! The movie has 15 frames captured on September 23, 2018 from 10:34 - 11:48 JST. Enjoy ‘standing’ on the surface of this asteroid! [6/6]


Video at: https://twitter.com/i/status/1045278816619261953


4:47 AM - 27 Sep 2018
167 replies 4,016 retweets 7,479 likes The 15-frame video was shot on September 23, two days after two Minerva-II1 (Micro/Nano Experimental Robot Vehicle for Asteroid) rovers separated from the unmanned spacecraft Hayabusa2 and touched down on the asteroid. It shows the Sun passing overhead as seen from the rocky surface of Ryugu.




https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/538084594512187392/2swQgORB_bigger.png HAYABUSA2@JAXA‏ @haya2e_jaxa (https://twitter.com/haya2e_jaxa)

Rover-1A snapped a photograph of its own antenna and pin! Image taken on September 23, 2018 at 09:48 JST. [5/6]


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DoGSn8OU0AA9z8e.jpg



https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DoGSoE5V4AAi0QD.jpg4:43 AM - 27 Sep 2018

9 replies 203 retweets 869 likes The tiny robots don't have wheels — they simply don't need them as rovers on normal wheels or crawlers would float upwards due to Ryugu's nearly-nonexistent gravity. Instead, the Japanese robots hop across the asteroid to take their magnificent snaps.



HAYABUSA2@JAXA‏ @haya2e_jaxa (https://twitter.com/haya2e_jaxa)

This image was taken just before Rover-1B hopped. Photograph snapped on September 23, 2018 at about 09:46 JST [2/6]


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DoGQxk1UUAU1rel.jpg

4:35 AM - 27 Sep 2018
12 replies 379 retweets 1,032 likes The rovers have also sent back several still images. Some of them are blurry, as they were taken while the rovers were rotating. Others feature the reflection of sunlight playing tricks on the exploratory robots' colored cameras.

At least one of the rovers was moving on the asteroid's surface, JAXA reported, touting Minerva-II1 as the world's first man-made objects to ever land on an asteroid and explore its movement from the surface.




https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/538084594512187392/2swQgORB_bigger.png HAYABUSA2@JAXA‏ @haya2e_jaxa (https://twitter.com/haya2e_jaxa)

This surface image was taken by Rover-1A on September 23, 2018 at 09:43 JST. [4/6]


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DoGR6tDU0AAruMB.jpg

4:40 AM - 27 Sep 2018
3 replies 220 retweets 775 likes JAXA has also obtained the highest-resolution photographs of Ryugu's surface to date, taken with Hayabusa2's onboard camera as it approached the asteroid to lower the rovers.




https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/538084594512187392/2swQgORB_bigger.png HAYABUSA2@JAXA‏ @haya2e_jaxa (https://twitter.com/haya2e_jaxa)

As Hayabusa2 descended towards Ryugu to deploy the MINERVA-II1 rovers, the ONC-T camera snapped the highest resolution image yet of the asteroid surface! http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/en/topics/20180927e_HighestRes/ … (https://t.co/JDbk29RXHG)


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DoJKDe0UcAAhQCA.jpg

6:05 PM - 27 Sep 2018
42 replies 643 retweets 1,654 likes Hayabusa2, an asteroid sample-return mission led by JAXA's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, completed its 42-month, 300-million-kilometer journey to Ryugu on June 28. It is scheduled to depart from Ryugu in December 2019 and isn't expected to return home with its samples until December 2020.

[1paintertoo]

JAXA dropped an explosive device on the surface of Ryugu ostensibly to create a crater for sampling purposes.

Here's a link to the article: https://apnews.com/2dd46c807e13486c9f658ec74776ce52

[1paintertoo]

Just finished reading Delta-V, authored by Daniel Suarez, a fascinating fiction about the possible next steps in space exploration, specifically, a multi-year effort to send a team to mine the asteroid Ryugu. Here's a link:

https://www.amazon.com/Delta-v-Daniel-Suarez/dp/1524742414/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3L58EMYCLBNT4&keywords=delta-v+by+daniel+suarez&qid=1566580212&s=gateway&sprefix=delta-v%2Caps%2C219&sr=8-1