NASA Dawn spacecraft images, photos, news: NASA makes movie of dwarf planet Ceres
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Dawn spacecraft was able to place itself exactly in the middle of the sun and the dwarf planet Ceres' surface, allowing the vessel to take footage of the latter.
According to NASA, the position enabled the aircraft to take images of Occator Crater, which is known as being the most brightly lit area of Ceres, owing to its volcanic activity. The scientists correctly estimated that observing the dwarf planet at opposition will allow the crater to appear even brighter. They based their predictions using ground-based telescopes, as well as their experiences in viewing objects in space at opposition.
The crater appears in the footage as the bright spots on the surface. Scientists are currently analyzing the data they were able to glean during the process. The photos that were taken were stitched together into a movie. The images were taken from an altitude of about 12,000 miles.
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Ceres is considered to be the largest object within the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. According to International Business Times, it is currently under investigation by scientists, owing to its potential to support water and, by extension, life. The article also states that the brightness of Occator Crater is due to the fact that a volcano erupted subsurface brine, which came from underneath the surface of Ceres, for millions of years before stopping, which is why the area surrounding the crater is comprised mainly of salt and is newer compared to the other parts of the dwarf planet. While the last eruption of the volcano happened about 4 million years ago, it is still possible that the area will reveal cryovolcanic activity in the future. Ceres is the planetary body closest to the sun that has been observed to show cryovolcanism.
According to Raw Story, Dawn has been circling Ceres and the neighboring area within the asteroid belt for the past two years.
