Benben Boulder and Equatorial Crater

Benben Boulder and Equatorial Crater

This image shows a portion of asteroid Bennu’s southern hemisphere and equatorial region. Both Bennu’s largest boulder, Benben Saxum (lower center), and a crater that may contain sampleable material (upper right) are visible. The image was taken by the MapCam camera on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on April 19, from a distance of 2.3 miles (3.7 km). The field of view is 846 ft (257.8 m). For scale, the crater’s diameter (from top to bottom) is 135 ft (41 m), which is about the same size as the diameter of the Pantheon’s dome. The image was obtained during Flyby 7B of the mission’s Detailed Survey: Baseball Diamond phase. When the image was taken, the spacecraft was over the southern hemisphere, pointing MapCam north and to the east. The image was taken about 17 minutes before this image. Comparing the two images illustrates Bennu’s rotation within this time period.

Date Taken: April 19, 2019

Instrument Used: OCAMS (MapCam)

Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

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Benben Boulder and Equatorial Crater

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