Tag: Dawn probe
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NASA’s Dawn probe falls silent, ending mission to mysterious dwarf planet Ceres
This photo of Ceres and the bright regions in Occator Crater was one of the last views NASA’s Dawn spacecraft transmitted before it completed its mission. This view, which faces south, was captured on Sept. 1 from an altitude of 2,340 miles as the spacecraft was ascending in its elliptical orbit. (NASA / JPL-Caltech /…
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NASA’s Dawn probe snaps close-ups of Ceres’ formerly mysterious white spots
A mosaic of images from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft shows a prominent mound of bright material on the western side of Cerealia Facula on dwarf planet Ceres. (NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA Photo) The once-mysterious bright spots shining on the surface of the dwarf planet Ceres are getting their closest…
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Happy Kwanzaa from NASA – and Ceres!
The feature on Ceres known as Kwanzaa Tholus is at the center of each of these pictures from NASA’s Dawn probe. The color-coded elevation map at right highlights the feature as a reddish, crescent-shaped swath. (NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA) Kwanzaa may be an African-American festival on Earth, but…
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Water, water everywhere on Ceres: Ice lies just below dwarf planet’s surface
NASA’s Dawn spacecraft determined the hydrogen content of the upper yard, or meter, of Ceres’ surface. Blue indicates where hydrogen content is higher, near the poles, while red indicates lower content at lower latitudes. (NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA / PSI Photo) Readings from instruments aboard NASA’s Dawn orbiter…
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NASA extends New Horizons mission to Kuiper Belt, tells Dawn to stay at Ceres
Artwork shows the New Horizons probe flying by a Kuiper Belt object known as 2014 MU69. (Credit: NASA) Almost a year after New Horizons’ unprecedented flyby of Pluto, NASA has given the official go-ahead for the probe to fly past another icy object in the Kuiper Belt in 2019. At the same time, the space agency…
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Dwarf planet Ceres’ mysterious bright spot hints at upwelling of salty water
The center of Ceres’ mysterious Occator Crater is the brightest area on the dwarf planet. The inset perspective view shows new data on this feature: Red signifies a high abundance of carbonates, while gray indicates a low carbonate abundance. (Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA / ASI / INAF)…
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Dwarf planet Ceres’ mystery bright spots get their close-up from Dawn probe
The bright central spots near the center of Occator Crater are shown in enhanced color in this view from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft. Such views can be used to highlight subtle color differences on Ceres’ surface. The view combines high-resolution images of Occator from February with lower-resolution color data acquired in September 2015. (Credit: NASA /…
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Dawn’s latest close-ups should shed more light on Ceres’ mysterious bright spots
This image of Ceres’ Kupalo Crater was captured by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft from a height of about 240 miles on Dec. 21. (Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA) For years, scientists puzzled over the bright spots that shine like alien headlights from the surface of Ceres, a dwarf planet in…
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Ceres as you’ve never seen it before: NASA’s Dawn orbiter delivers closest close-ups of dwarf planet
This Dec. 10 image of Ceres shows the area around a crater chain called Gerber Catena,. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft was flying about 240 miles above Ceres when the picture was taken. (Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA). Earlier this month we started seeing some of the closest views yet of…
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Those mysterious bright spots on Ceres? Probably salty ice, scientists say
This color-coded representation of Ceres’ Occator Crater shows differences in surface composition, highlight bright patches inside the crater. (Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA) For months, scientists have puzzled over weirdly bright spots of material shining on the asteroid Ceres, but now they say the spots are probably made of salty…