The video seems to betray a low data rate; it could take time to capture enough images for smooth animation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaUaoy33gHE
why does the fact that there are more craters on the north side of Vesta remind me of the ice plasma plumes & subsequent comet-like tails streaming in what appeared to be a southerly polar flow?
Enceladus in this NASA photo:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/new ... ponge.html Anyone for enchiladas?
That being as it may, I understand that has nothing to do with Vesta directly. I wonder if they will find much trace sulfur from io, & would they find most of it on either (not both) hemispheres.
This leads to the question of whether what streams up through these large magnetic fields (whatever gas giant) would draw on nearby debris, propel it, and hurl any stray NiFe, or other magnetically-influenced object/field northward to hit home.(collector)
Were it to be an object already en route in the general direction of a magnetic episode during heavy solar winds (such as the previous decade) could it not be influenced by the magnetic flux and in-effect steered away from a large mass, aligned with the lines of magnetic force. Even if this predicted effect was unsuccessful at navigating the full loop of the lines of force, it would enable a re-capture event as the object(s) travel directly through the loop, instead of through the loop along the lines of force. Even a small acceleration could act like a 'natural' ion propulsion. If the object had company, say from a rubble-field, the effect could be pronounced like a 'stellar shotgun'.
If so, NASA has a new orbital class of asteroid to start looking for, as we might not be entirely immune.
The mysterious lines running along the surface are reminiscent of a good-sized encounter with that very effect. An object in motion will tend to find the path of least resistance to continue said motion.
If this was a natural feature of this solar system to be able to preferentially separating exo-solar meteorites and depositing them on a single pole, waiting for an explorer (robotic or otherwise) to discover exactly what was deposited. What if there was heavy, or even rare-earth metals propelled to their ultimate fate? Of course this could make such an exploration much riskier.
Perfectly pertinent is to find out how the solar flux effects, affects &/or how the magnetosphere of Jupiter can influence events in or around the asteroid belt. What would be the attenuation of the solar flux.
can anyone find cool pictures of io (or any other moons) emitting plumes of sulfur (or other gas) for me. I've been unsuccessful at that venture thus far.
Yep, just another boring hunk of dwarf planet.
Asteroid Vesta Full Frame
) I wonder what the black substance is! I also noticed that on the rotation movie; that near the equator; there is a wide grove that seems to go all the way around the asteroid! I don't know if Vesta is round enough to be considered a planet! 
