NASA probe gets up close and personal with dwarf planet Ceres

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has captured tantalizing views of the dwarf planet Ceres, revealing hints of craters and other structures on the surface of the mysterious body. Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, with an average diameter of 950 kilometres. Dawn is rapidly approaching Ceres and is due to arrive in its orbit on March 6. The images are still blurry, and are primarily for navigation purposes, but they give an early taste of the much more detailed view of Ceres that Dawn will bring.

We know so much about the solar system and yet so little about dwarf planet Ceres. Now, Dawn is ready to change that.

Dawn’s chief engineer and mission director, Marc Rayman

The Dawn spacecraft will be the first spacecraft to study Ceres – or any other dwarf planet – up close. By the end of January, Dawn will obtain higher-resolution images of Ceres than the Hubble Space Telescope did. The mission is expected to continue for 16 months as researchers analyse data about Ceres, which is thought to be icy could possibly contain an ocean. Earlier this year, scientists found water on Ceres in the form of vapour plumes that erupt into the sky.

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