future timeline technology singularity humanity
 
Blog»

 

20th January 2015

Dawn probe delivers new image of dwarf planet Ceres

NASA has released an animated view of the dwarf planet Ceres, taken by the approaching Dawn spacecraft.

 

dawn probe ceres image january 2015

 

As NASA's Dawn spacecraft closes in on Ceres, new images show the dwarf planet at 27 pixels across, about three times better than the calibration images taken in early December. These are the first in a series of images that will be taken for navigation purposes during the probe's approach.

Over the next several weeks, Dawn will deliver increasingly better and better images of the dwarf planet – leading up to the spacecraft's capture into orbit around Ceres on 6th March. These images will continue to improve as the spacecraft spirals closer to the surface during its 16-month study.

"We know so much about the solar system and yet so little about dwarf planet Ceres. Now, Dawn is ready to change that," said Marc Rayman, the chief engineer and mission director, based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

The best images of Ceres so far were taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2003-4. These most recent images from Dawn, taken 13th January 2015 – at 80% of Hubble resolution – are not quite as sharp. But Dawn's images will surpass Hubble's at the next imaging opportunity, at the end of January.

"Already, the [latest] images hint at first surface structures such as craters," said Andreas Nathues, lead investigator for the framing camera team at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Germany.

Dawn's arrival will mark the first time a spacecraft has ever been to a dwarf planet. By far the largest body in the main asteroid belt, Ceres comprises approximately one-third of the mass of the whole belt, which lies between Mars and Jupiter. With an average diameter of 590 miles (950 km), it is the sixth largest body in the inner Solar System by mass and volume. Scientists believe it contains a vast amount of ice – a potentially major resource for human colonists in the future. Thanks to its small escape velocity and rich resources, Ceres could serve as a main base and transport hub for asteroid mining infrastructure while providing abundant water, fuel, and oxygen for ships passing through to more distant objects like the moons of Jupiter.

"The team is very excited to examine the surface of Ceres in never-before-seen detail," said Chris Russell, principal investigator for the mission, based at the University of California, Los Angeles. "We look forward to the surprises this mysterious world may bring."

 

Comments »

 

 

 
 

 

Comments

 

 

 

 

⇡  Back to top  ⇡

Next »