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Bright Spots in Ceres' Second Mapping Orbit

Jun 10, 2015
The brightest spots on dwarf planet Ceres are seen in this image taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft on June 6, 2015.

The brightest spots on dwarf planet Ceres are seen in this image taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft on June 6, 2015. This is among the first snapshots from Dawn's second mapping orbit, which is 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers) in altitude. The resolution is 1,400 feet (410 meters) per pixel.

Scientists are still puzzled by the nature of these spots, and are considering explanations that include salt and ice.

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. The University of California, Los Angeles, is responsible for overall Dawn mission science. Orbital ATK, Inc., in Dulles, Virginia, designed and built the spacecraft. The German Aerospace Center, the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, the Italian Space Agency and the Italian National Astrophysical Institute are international partners on the mission team. For a complete list of acknowledgments, see http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission.

For more information about the Dawn mission, visit http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov.

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Mission
  • Dawn
Target
  • Ceres
Spacecraft
  • Dawn
Instrument
  • Framing Camera
Credit
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA

Keep Exploring

Highlighting Bright Areas of Ceres' Occator Crater

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Close-up of Occator Crater

Dawn Stereo Anaglyph of Impact Melt Deposits at Occator Crater, Ceres

Dawn Stereo Anaglyph of Hydrothermal Deposits at Occator Crater, Ceres

Dawn Stereo Anaglyph of Southeast Floor and Rim of Occator Crater, Ceres

View of Ceres' Limb

Ezinu Crater

Stars on Occator's Floor

Haulani and Oxo Craters

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