NEAR lightcurves of Asteroid 433 Eros

The NEAR spacecraft hew by Asteroid 433 Eros on December 23, 1998, and obta ined images with a best angular resolution of about 400 m/pixel, These imag es were used to derive a shape model (Thomas et al. 2000, Icarus), In addit ion, images obtained at phase angles of 88 degrees to 115 degrees during th e flyby were used to modify our photometric model of Eros, NEAR has continu ed to observe Eros in flight, taking a series of lightcurves. The multispec tral imager (MSI) lightcurve data consist of six observations of one full r otation each and range in phase angle from 62 degrees to 98 degrees, With t he post flyby shape and photometric models, we have predicted the lightcurv e of Eros, We used viewing angles which corresponded to actual viewing angl es of lightcurve data obtained in flight by the MSI, Comparisons between ob served and modeled lightcurves reveal relative discrepancies of up to 0.3 m agnitudes. Our analysis shows that these differences indicate significant a lbedo features located between longitudes 220 degrees and 300 degrees. Thes e longitudes were imaged during the NEAR flyby of December 1998, and indeed they show that a bright facet, well constrained in the shape model, appear s to have an anomalously high albedo. (C) 2000 Academic Press.