ESA Science & Technology - Regions on asteroid (21) Lutetia

Three images of asteroid (21) Lutetia taken at (from left to right) 60, 30 and 3 minutes prior to closest approach during the Rosetta flyby of 10 July 2010.

Almost the entire northern hemisphere and parts of the southern hemisphere were imaged by the wide and narrow angle cameras of the OSIRIS instrument. These unprecedented images enabled the Rosetta science team to identify seven distinct topographic and geological regions, which were named after provinces of the ancient Roman Empire: Baetica, Achaia, Etruria, Narbonensis, Noricum, Pannonia and Raetia. The unobserved area of the southern hemisphere was named after Hermann Goldschmidt, who discovered asteroid Lutetia in 1852.