Radar Images of Asteroid 4179 Toutatis

• DOI: 10.1126/science.270.5233.80
• Publication Date: 2006-10-27T18:19:42Z
• Authors: Steven J. Ostro; R. Scott Hudson; Raymond F. Jurgens; Keith D. Rosema; Donald B. Campbell; Donald K. Yeomans; John F. Chandler; Jon D. Giorgini; Ron Winkler; Randy Rose; S. Denise Howard; Martin A. Slade; Phil Perillat; Irwin I. Shapiro
• Keywords: 0103 physical sciences; 01 natural sciences

Delay-Doppler images of the Earth-crossing asteroid 4179 Toutatis achieve resolutions as fine 125 nanoseconds (19 meters in range) and 8.3 millihertz (0.15 millimeter per second radial velocity) place hundreds to thousands pixels on asteroid, which appears be several kilometers long, topographically bifurcated, heavily cratered. The image sequence reveals an extremely slow, non-principal axis rotation state.