This combination of Dec. 2, 2018 photos made available by NASA shows a set of stereoscopic images of a large, 170-foot (52-meter) boulder that juts from asteroid Bennu's southern hemisphere and the rocky slopes that surround it. The 3D images were captured by the Osiris-Rex spacecraft. (NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona via AP)
The Associated Press
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - NASA has released a pair of artsy shots of two little asteroids.
Thursday's picture shows an asteroid coming apart at its dusty seams, courtesy of the Hubble Space Telescope . Two long comet-like tails are streaming from asteroid Gault, a 2.5-mile-wide (4-kilometer-wide) world that's spinning so fast it's shedding.
Photos released Wednesday focus on the even smaller space rock Bennu. The 3D images taken by NASA's Osiris-Rex spacecraft , flying alongside Bennu, show a jagged boulder that's 170 feet (52 meters) across.
A real-life rocker helped create these stereo images: Queen's lead guitarist Brian May. May, who's also an astrophysicist, joined the science team in January. He also is collaborating on NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, which flew past the most distant object ever explored, Ultima Thule, on New Year's Day.
This undated photo captured by the Hubble Space Telescope and made available by NASA on Thursday, March 28, 2019 shows the asteroid (6478) Gault that is gradually self-destructing. It is spinning so fast, dusty material ejected from the surface has has formed two long, thin, comet-like tails. The longer tail stretches more than 500,000 miles (800,000 kilometers) and is roughly 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) wide. The shorter tail is about a quarter as long. The streamers will eventually disperse into space. (NASA/ESA/K. Meech, J. Kleyna - University of Hawaii/O. Hainaut - European Southern Observatory via AP)
The Associated Press