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| | COMETS, METEORS, AND ASTEROIDS |
 | | Asteroid Mathilde, left, is the third and the largest asteroid ever to be viewed at close range. |
 | | Asteroids Gaspra and Ida, center and right, photographed by the Galileo orbiter in 1991 and 1993, respectively, are smaller and more oblong-shaped than Mathilde. |
 | | Three-quarters of the asteroids visible from Earth, including 1 Ceres, belong to the C type, which appear to be related to a class of stony meteorites known as carbonaceous chondrites. |
| www.geocities.com /beyondearth2001/asteroid.htm (1708 words) |
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