Anaglyph image of mountain/central complex in Vesta’s south polar region: Nasa Dawn Mission Image of the Day Gallery 11 Oct 2011

This anaglyph image shows the topography of the mountain/ central complex in Vesta’s south polar region. When viewed correctly this image shows a 3D view of Vesta’s surface. This effect was achieved by superimposing two differently colored images with an offset to create depth. To view this image in 3D use red-green, or red-blue, glasses (left eye: red; right eye: green/ blue). The depth effect/ topography differences in this image were calculated from the shape model of Vesta. The south polar mountain/ central complex is slightly offset from the center of the image. The broad morphology of the mountain/ central complex is clear: it is a roughly circular topographic mound, which is approximately 200km in diameter and has approximately 20km of relief from its base.  There is a large scarp on the mountain/ central complex, which is well lit in this image. Also shown is the hummocky (eg. wavy/ undulating) texture of the south polar depression, which surrounds the mountain/ central complex.

The framing camera (FC) instrument aboard NASA’s Dawn spacecraft obtained the images used to make this anaglyph on 17^th and 20^th August 2011. The distance from Dawn to the surface of Vesta was 2740km at this time. The image has a resolution of about 260 meters per pixel.

Image Credit: NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ UCLA/ MPS/ DLR/ IDA