The Dawn spacecraft is just days away from entering an orbit around the dwarf planet Ceres. The pictures are becoming better and more detailed raising anticipation for what we might learn. For starters, what makes the mystery bright spots bright and how was that “pancake” feature / crater formed? You can see the latter on the right hand image on the lower horizon, or view of it here (taken on 19 February 2015). This image was taken on 25 February 2015 from a distance of 40,000 km / 25,000 miles.
N.B. Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt, which lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. It is composed of rock and ice, is 950 km (590 mi) in diameter, and contains approximately one third of the mass of the asteroid belt. It is the only dwarf planet in the inner Solar System and the only object in the asteroid belt known to be unambiguously rounded by its own gravity.
Image(s) Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
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