Benben and Bennu

This image shows the size of asteroid Bennu’s largest boulder, Benben Saxum, in relation to the asteroid itself. Benben Saxum , visible in the lower left of the image, is situated on the asteroid’s southern limb. From the spacecraft’s vantage point, half of Bennu is sunlit and half is in shadow. The image was taken by the MapCam camera on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on April 29, from a distance of 5 miles (8 km). The field of view is 0.4 miles (0.6 km). For reference, Benben is 98 ft (30 m) high, which is about the height of the Lincoln Memorial. The asteroid itself is 1,673 ft (510 m) in height – a bit taller than the Empire State Building. The image was obtained two weeks after the mission’s Checkpoint rehearsal, and one day before the spacecraft re-entered orbit around Bennu.

Date Taken: April 29, 2020

Instrument Used: OCAMS (MapCam)

Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

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Benben and Bennu

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