Dawn Spacecraft Snaps Ceres: The Dwaft Planet Briny Material Bubbling Up Spots Possibly Made of Salt
NASA's Dawn probe is eyeing the dwarf planet Ceres since March 6, 2015, 920 miles (1,480 kilometers) above the surface of the lowest altitude in its mission. The spacecraft orbited and accomplished all of its primary mission at Ceres and protoplanet Vesta.
The spacecraft was launched in 2007. In July 2011, it first voyaged to Vesta, the second most massive and largest object in the asteroid belt after the dwarf planet. Then, in September 2012, it left orbit to visit Ceres, where it arrived in March 2015. Ceres is the 33rd largest known object in the Solar System and it is the only dwarf planet in the asteroid belt that lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter known to be rounded by its own gravity.
New images that Dawn captured was Ceres' huge Occator Crater, it is the mysterious and brightest central region on Ceres. The images were taken on October 16 from the spacecraft's fifth science orbit, where the sun's angle was quite strange and fascinating from those in previous orbits.
The crater itself displays evidence of recent geologic activity. It is 57 miles (92 kilometers) wide, and 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) deep, that makes it 77 times larger than the Barringer Crater in Arizona.
The research led by Andreas Nathues of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany counted 130 bright spots across the surface of Ceres which approximately 590 miles (950 kilometers) wide.
Scientists revealed the latest research suggests that the bright material in this crater is made up of salts left behind after a briny liquid emerged from below, froze and then sublimed, which means it turned from solid ice into vapor. The asteroid impact that formed the crater millions of years ago may have triggered the upwelling of salty liquid.
NASA released a colorized photo showing what Ceres would actually look like to the human eye, with the help from German Aerospace Center in Berlin. It was then calculated the way the dwarf planet reflects different wavelengths of light.
Marc Rayman, Dawn's chief engineer and mission director at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California said that the image captured the wonder of soaring above this unique and fascinating world.
Dawn will still pursue into its sixth orbit of Ceres, achieving an altitude of over 4,500 miles (7,200 kilometers). This time, the probe will refine previously collected measurements.
