Ceres rotates in this sped-up movie comprised of
images taken by NASA's Dawn mission during its approach to the dwarf planet. The
images were taken on Feb. 19, 2015, from a distance of nearly 29,000 miles
(46,000 kilometers). Dawn observed Ceres for a full rotation of the dwarf
planet, which lasts about nine hours. The images have a resolution of 2.5 miles
(4 kilometers) per pixel.
Ceres gira en esta película agilizado el proceso de conformado de imágenes tomadas por la misión Dawn de la NASA durante su aproximación al planeta enano. Las imágenes fueron tomadas el 19 de febrero de 2015, desde una distancia de casi 29.000 millas (46.000 kilometros). Amanecer observó Ceres para una rotación completa del planeta enano, que dura alrededor de nueve horas. Las imágenes tienen una resolución de 2,5 millas (4 kilómetros) por píxel.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
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NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has returned new images captured on approach to its
historic orbit insertion at the dwarf planet Ceres. Dawn will be the first
mission to successfully visit a dwarf planet when it enters orbit around Ceres
on Friday, March 6.
"Dawn is about to make history," said Robert Mase, project manager for the
Dawn mission at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California.
"Our team is ready and eager to find out what Ceres has in store for us."
Recent images show numerous craters and unusual bright spots that scientists
believe tell how Ceres, the first object discovered in our solar system’s
asteroid belt, formed and whether its surface is changing. As the spacecraft
spirals into closer and closer orbits around the dwarf planet, researchers will
be looking for signs that these strange features are changing, which would
suggest current geological activity.
NASA's Dawn spacecraft took these images of dwarf
planet Ceres from about 25,000 miles (40,000 kilometers) away on Feb. 25, 2015.
Ceres appears half in shadow because of the current position of the spacecraft
relative to the dwarf planet and the sun. The resolution is about 2.3 miles (3.7
kilometers) per pixel.
Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
“Studying Ceres allows us to do historical research in space, opening a
window into the earliest chapter in the history of our solar system,” said Jim
Green, director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division at the agency’s
Headquarters in Washington. “Data returned from Dawn could contribute
significant breakthroughs in our understanding of how the solar system
formed.”
Dawn began its final approach phase toward Ceres in December. The spacecraft
has taken several optical navigation images and made two rotation
characterizations, allowing Ceres to be observed through its full nine-hour
rotation. Since Jan. 25, Dawn has been delivering the highest-resolution images
of Ceres ever captured, and they will continue to improve in quality as the
spacecraft approaches.
Sicilian astronomer Father Giuseppe Piazzi spotted Ceres in 1801. As more
such objects were found in the same region, they became known as asteroids, or
minor planets. Ceres was initially classified as a planet and later called an
asteroid. In recognition of its planet-like qualities, Ceres was designated a
dwarf planet in 2006, along with Pluto and Eris.
Ceres is named for the Roman goddess of agriculture and harvests. Craters on
Ceres will similarly be named for gods and goddesses of agriculture and
vegetation from world mythology. Other features will be named for agricultural
festivals.
Launched in September 2007, Dawn explored the giant asteroid Vesta for 14
months in 2011 and 2012, capturing detailed images and data about that body.
Both Vesta and Ceres orbit the sun between Mars and Jupiter, in the main
asteroid belt. This two-stop tour of our solar system is made possible by Dawn’s
ion propulsion system, its three ion engines being much more efficient than
chemical propulsion.
"Both Vesta and Ceres were on their way to becoming planets, but their
development was interrupted by the gravity of Jupiter,” said Carol Raymond,
deputy project scientist at JPL. “These two bodies are like fossils from the
dawn of the solar system, and they shed light on its origins."
Ceres and Vesta have several important differences. Ceres is the most massive
body in the asteroid belt, with an average diameter of 590 miles (950
kilometers). Ceres' surface covers about 38 percent of the area of the
continental United States. Vesta has an average diameter of 326 miles (525
kilometers), and is the second most massive body in the belt. The asteroid
formed earlier than Ceres and is a very dry body. Ceres, in contrast, is
estimated to be 25 percent water by mass.
"By studying Vesta and Ceres, we will gain a better understanding of the
formation of our solar system, especially the terrestrial planets and most
importantly the Earth," said Raymond. "These bodies are samples of the building
blocks that have formed Venus, Earth and Mars. Vesta-like bodies are believed to
have contributed heavily to the core of our planet, and Ceres-like bodies may
have provided our water."
"We would not be able to orbit and explore these two worlds without ion
propulsion,” Mase said. “Dawn capitalizes on this innovative technology to
deliver big science on a small budget.”
In addition to the Dawn mission, NASA will launch in 2016 its
Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith
Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft. This mission will study a large asteroid in
unprecedented detail and return samples to Earth.
NASA also places a high priority on tracking and protecting Earth from
asteroids. NASA's Near-Earth Object (NEO) Program at the agency’s headquarters
manages and funds the search, study and monitoring of asteroids and comets whose
orbits periodically bring them close to Earth. NASA is pursuing an Asteroid
Redirect Mission (ARM), which will identify, redirect and send astronauts to
explore an asteroid. Among its many exploration goals, the mission could
demonstrate basic planetary defense techniques for asteroid deflection.
Dawn's mission is managed by JPL for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in
Washington. Dawn is a project of the directorate's Discovery Program, managed by
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. UCLA is responsible
for overall Dawn mission science. Orbital ATK, Inc., in Dulles, Virginia,
designed and built the spacecraft
The German Aerospace Center, Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research,
Italian Space Agency and Italian National Astrophysical Institute are
international partners on the mission team.
For a complete list of mission participants, visit:
For more information about Dawn, visit:
For more information on OSIRIS-REx and ARM visit:
