In this September 2000 image, NEAR Shoemaker's then-current 100-kilometer (62-mile) orbit gave it a bird's eye view of the asteroid Eros. This mosaic of four images was taken as the spacecraft looked down on the "saddle" region from the south.
In this September 2000 image, NEAR Shoemaker’s then-current 100-kilometer (62-mile) orbit gave it a bird’s eye view of the asteroid Eros. This mosaic of four images was taken as the spacecraft looked down on the “saddle” region from the south. The broad, curved depression that stretches vertically across the image is an area of the asteroid that was in shadow during an earlier 100-kilometer orbit, in April 2000.Image credit: NASA