Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

Eros From Orbit

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for February 16, 2000 is “Eros From Orbit,” an image. It is credited to Credit: NEAR Project , JHU APL , NASA. The original explanation runs about 192 words.

Eros From Orbit
Credit: NEAR Project , JHU APL , NASA Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“On February 14th, the NEAR spacecraft became the first artificial moon of an asteroid . Captured by the gentle gravity of a 20 mile long slipper-shaped mountain of rock, NEAR recorded this premier image while orbiting asteroid 433 Eros at a distance of about 200 miles.”

— APOD editors, February 16, 2000

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
February 16, 2000
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: NEAR Project , JHU APL , NASA
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 192 words

All of February 2000 → · 2000 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

Asteroids

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: February 16 in other years

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Source

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.