NASA Dawn Spacecraft Reveals New Maps and Images of Dwarf Planet Ceres

NASA's Dawn spacecraft is revealing a bit more about the dwarf planet, Ceres. The spacecraft has provided tantalizing views and other data about the tiny planet that researchers continue to analyze.

A new color-coded topographic map of Ceres actually shows more than a dozen recently approved names for features on Ceres, all eponymous for agricultural spirits, deities and festivals from cultures across the world. These include Jaja, after the Abkhazian harvest goddess, and Ernutet, after the cobra-headed Egyptian harvest goddess. In addition, a 12-mile diameter mountain near Ceres' north pole is now called Ysolo Mons for an Albanian festival that marks the first day of the eggplant harvest.

"The irregular shapes of craters on Ceres are especially interesting, resembling craters we see on Saturn's icy moon Rhea," said Carol Raymond, one of the researchers, in a news release. "They are very different from the bowl-shaped craters on Vesta."

Dawn is currently orbiting Ceres at an altitude of 915 miles, and the spacecraft will image the entire surface of the dwarf planet up to six times in this phase of the mission. Starting in October and continuing into December, Dawn will descend to its lowest and final orbit at an altitude of 230 miles. The spacecraft will continue to image Ceres and take other data at higher resolutions than ever before while it's orbiting close to the surface.

The new findings reveal a bit more about the dwarf planet Ceres. In addition, they show how this particular dwarf planet may have evolved in our solar system over time.

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

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