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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Another Space Diamond! NASA Probe Snaps Great Photo of Asteroid Bennu [space.com]

The asteroid Bennu is really coming into focus for NASA's approaching OSIRIS-REx spacecraft [space.com].

OSIRIS-REx snapped eight photos of the 1,650-foot-wide (500 meters) Bennu on Monday (Oct. 29), when the probe was about 205 miles (330 kilometers) away from the space rock. Mission team members combined these images into a single "super-resolution" shot, which reveals boulders and other features on the asteroid's surface.

The striking photo also highlights Bennu's diamond shape, which is similar to that of the 3,000-foot-wide (900 m) asteroid Ryugu. Japan's Hayabusa2 mission [space.com] has been orbiting Ryugu since late June and has dropped three separate landing craft onto the space rock's surface over the past five weeks.

101955 Bennu [wikipedia.org] has an average diameter of 492 meters, compared to about 1 kilometer for 162173 Ryugu [wikipedia.org]. New Horizons will fly by (486958) 2014 MU₆₉ [wikipedia.org], a 30-40 km object or objects, on January 1, capping the space rock trio for the year.

NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona photo [space.com].

Previously: New Horizons Spacecraft Approaches 2014 MU69; OSIRIS-REx Nears 101955 Bennu [soylentnews.org] (images taken from 2.2 million km away)

Related: Hayabusa2 Reaches Asteroid 162173 Ryugu [soylentnews.org]
Japan's Hopping Rovers Capture Amazing Views of Asteroid Ryugu [soylentnews.org]
Short-Lived MASCOT Lander Reaches Asteroid Ryugu [soylentnews.org]

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