On June 27, 1997, on the way out to Eros, the NEAR spacecraft sped past asteroid 253, Mathilde at a range of 1212 kilometers capturing the above set of images. (Select reload button to view the flypast again).

At about 70 kilometres across, Mathilde is the largest asteroid so far visited by a spacecraft. It is also the darkest - as black as coal. And it is the least dense - about as light as chimney soot. A carbonaceous chondrite, it is made up of carbon compounds like soot.