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Birthday · October 27, 2002

Asteroid Gaspra's Best Face

October 27, 2002

On the day you were born, another consciousness opened inside the cosmos and began taking notes.

Asteroid Gaspra's Best Face

A little universe, just for you

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APOD published October 27, 2002. Full image credits are on the original APOD entry below. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.

Behind the image

Asteroid Gaspra's Best Face

Original APOD · October 27, 2002

Asteroid 951 Gaspra is a huge rock tumbling in space. Gaspra became one of the best-studied asteroids in 1991 when the spacecraft Galileo flew by. In the above photograph, subtle color variations have been exaggerated to highlight changes in reflectivity, surface structure and composition. Gaspra is about 20 kilometers long and orbits the Sun in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

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