mathilde asteroid 3d model - Asteroid Mathilde by Michael Taylor

253 Mathilde is a main belt asteroid that was discovered by Johann Palisa in 1885. It has a relatively elliptical orbit that requires more than four years to circle the Sun. This asteroid has an unusually slow rate of rotation, requiring 17.4 days to complete a 360° revolution about its axis. It is a primitive C-type asteroid, which means the surface has a high proportion of carbon; giving it a dark surface that reflects only 4% of the light that falls on it.[10]

This asteroid was visited by the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft during June 1997, on its way to asteroid 433 Eros. The spacecraft imaged a hemisphere of the asteroid, revealing many large craters that have gouged out depressions in the surface. It is currently the largest asteroid to be visited by a spacecraft, and the first C-type asteroid to be so explored.