Dwarf Planet Ceres
Explanation:
Dwarf
planet Ceres is the largest object in the Solar System's
main
asteroid belt,
with a diameter of about 950 kilometers (590 miles).
Ceres is seen here
in approximately true color,
based on image data from the Dawn spacecraft recorded on May 4, 2015.
On that date, Dawn's orbit stood 13,642 kilometers above
the surface of the small world.
Two of Ceres'
famous mysterious
bright spots at Oxo crater and Haulani crater are near center
and center right of this view.
Casting a telltale shadow at the bottom is Ceres' cone-shaped, lonely
mountain
Ahuna Mons.
Presently some 385 kilometers above the Cerean surface,
the ion-propelled Dawn spacecraft is
now
returning images from its closest mapping orbit.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
