Ceres' Mysterious Bright Spots Catches NASA Dawn's Eye

As its space probe Dawn inches closer to Ceres, NASA is learning more about the mysterious bright spots seen earlier on the dwarf planet.

Dawn sent NASA images taken on May 3, 4 from a distance of 13,600 kilometers above the planet's surface. The images helped scientists learn that the big spots located in a crater are comprised of smaller spots which reflect sunlight.

"Dawn scientists can now conclude that the intense brightness of these spots is due to the reflection of sunlight by highly reflective material on the surface, possibly ice," said Christopher Russell, principal investigator for the Dawn mission.

The spacecraft is in orbit and recently completed its first 15-day mapping orbit. It will descend into a smaller survey orbit that will take it to an altitude of 4,400 kilometers from where it can map the planet's surface, as it orbits the planet in three days.

The spots were first noted when Dawn arrived at Ceres in March this year. On its way to the planet, Dawn had visited asteroid Vesta to study it for 14 months. The spacecraft was launched in 2007 to study the asteroid and Ceres located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.