  We present a detailed theoretical study of scanning tunneling imaging and
spectroscopy of \Csixty on silver and gold surfaces, motivated by the recent
experiments and discussion by X. Lu et al. [PRL \textbf{90}, 096802 (2003) and
PRB \textbf{70}, 115418 (2004)]. The surface/sample/tip system is described
within a self--consistent DFT based tight--binding model. The topographic and
conductance images are computed at constant current from a full
self--consistent transport theory based on nonequilibrium Green's functions and
compared with those simulated from the local density of states. The molecular
orbitals of \Csixty are clearly identified in the energy resolved maps, in
close correspondence with the experimental results. We show how the tip
structure and orientation can affect the images. In particular, we consider the
effects of truncated tips on the energy resolved maps.
