NASA Probe Gets Up Close and Personal With Dwarf Planet Ceres

[Buster's Uncle]

NASA Probe Gets Up Close and Personal With Dwarf Planet Ceres
ABC News
ALYSSA NEWCOMB  ‎January‎ ‎19‎, ‎2015






NASA's Dawn spacecraft is closing in on the dwarf planet Ceres and the space agency today released new photos showing what the gigantic cosmic mass looks like up close.

Ceres, the largest body in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, has an average diameter of 590 miles. The images released today are relatively grainy compared to the power of the Hubble Telescope, however they will be used to help guide Dawn closer to the dwarf planet.

The photos, which were taken on Jan. 13 but released today, show Dawn's view of Ceres from a distance of 238,000 miles, according to NASA.

The space agency said the images will continue to get better as Dawn gets closer to Ceres, with the eventual goal of placing the satellite in orbit on March 6. It will be the first time the spacecraft has visited a dwarf planet.

The mission is expected to continue for 16 months as researchers analyze data about Ceres, which is thought to be icy and possibly contain an ocean. Researchers said the current images already show what appear to be craters -- something they're eager to get a closer look at as Dawn edges toward its destination.


https://www.yahoo.com/tech/s/nasa-probe-gets-close-personal-dwarf-planet-ceres-040200854--abc-news-tech.html

[Geo]

It's a better picture (bit more detail) then I've ever seen of Ceres. Hubble may have made shots of a whole rotation of Ceres, but those false color images were at best tantalizing.

[Buster's Uncle]

It's kinda exciting, isn't it?

[Geo]

Ice craters, or rocky craters?

Edit: can't open the "more" section of smilies?

[Buster's Uncle]

 

It's working fine for me...

How deep must the ice be before it counts as an ice crater?

[Geo]

Oh, I'd say similar as on Callisto or Ganymede?

[Buster's Uncle]

Probably not that icy.

[Geo]

Probably less then the outer moons of Jupiter.
But of course, if most of the ice sits subcerenean ( ), more chance for liquid pockets down the surface.

[Buster's Uncle]

That would be cool, but it's a small body without the tidal forces that heat the gas giants' moons - probably frozen all the way down.

[Geo]

;sadnod

[Geo]

Checking on Ceres' wikipage, I noticed Mars aphelion and Ceres perihelion are more or less on the same side of the Sun.