Dawn Spacecraft Arrives at the Distant Dwarf Planet Ceres This Friday (VIDEO)

NASA's Dawn spacecraft is approaching its historical rendezvous with the dwarf planet Ceres. Now, it's returned new images captured on its approach, revealing new features of the dwarf planet.

"Dawn is about to make history," said Robert Mase, project manager for the Dawn mission, in a news release. "Our team is ready and eager to find out what Ceres has in store for us."

The latest images show numerous craters and unusual bright spots on the dwarf planet. Ceres itself is an object in our solar system's main asteroid belt that orbits the sun between Mars and Jupiter. As Dawn spirals closer and closer to the dwarf planet, researchers are continually looking for signs that the features on Ceres are changing, which would suggest current geological activity.

"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. "Data returned from Dawn could contribute significant breakthroughs in our understanding of how the solar system formed."

Dawn began is final approach phase toward Ceres in December and since then, the spacecraft has taken several optical navigation images. It's set to enter orbit around the dwarf planet on Friday, March 6. Before its approach to Ceres, Dawn made a pit stop to study the asteroid, Vesta, another object located in the asteroid belt.

"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."

For more information about the Dawn mission, visit NASA's website.

For more information, check out the video below, courtesy of YouTube.

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