Tag: Dawn

  • Hunt for water at Ceres goes underground

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    The small, bright crater Oxo (6 miles, 10 kilometers wide) on Ceres is seen in this perspective view. The elevation has been exaggerated by a factor of two. The view was made using enhanced-color images from NASA’s Dawn mission. Dawn’s visible and infrared mapping spectrometer (VIR) has found evidence of water ice at this crater.…

  • Pluto probe’s extended mission approved, but new Dawn destination denied

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    Artist’s concept of the New Horizons spacecraft’s encounter with a Kuiper Belt object. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI/Alex Parker NASA managers formally approved the New Horizons mission another speedy encounter with an object at the frontier of the solar system, but denied a request from scientists to redirect the Dawn spacecraft to visit a third destination in the…

  • NASA must decide soon on Dawn mission’s next act

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    Artist’s concept of the Dawn spacecraft, with its ion propulsion system active, in orbit around the dwarf planet Ceres. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA NASA managers face a July 12 deadline to decide whether to send the Dawn spacecraft on an unplanned visit to a third object in the asteroid belt or keep the probe at dwarf planet…

  • Dawn mission expected to go into overtime at Ceres

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    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. This image combines high-resolution black-and-white imagery from February 2016 with lower-resolution color data collected by Dawn in September 2015. NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA/PSI/LPI…

  • NASA’s Dawn spacecraft marks one year at dwarf planet Ceres

    NASA’s Dawn spacecraft marks one year at dwarf planet Ceres

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    Eight and a half years after its launch from Florida, NASA’s Dawn spacecraft celebrated its one year anniversary at the dwarf planet Ceres on Sunday. The craft’s anniversary follows its investigations at the protoplanet Vesta in the asteroid belt and an ongoing series of discoveries regarding Ceres, the closest dwarf planet to Earth. Dawn –…

  • NASA publishes tantalizing close-ups of dwarf planet Ceres

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    This image from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft shows Kupalo Crater, one of the youngest craters on Ceres. The crater has bright material exposed on its rim and walls, which could be salts. Its flat floor likely formed from impact melt and debris. Kupalo, which measures 16 miles (26 kilometers) across and is located at southern mid-latitudes,…

  • NASA publishes tantalizing close-ups of dwarf planet Ceres

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    This image from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft shows Kupalo Crater, one of the youngest craters on Ceres. The crater has bright material exposed on its rim and walls, which could be salts. Its flat floor likely formed from impact melt and debris. Kupalo, which measures 16 miles (26 kilometers) across and is located at southern mid-latitudes,…

  • With widespread salts and ices, Ceres in a class of its own

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    The dwarf planet Ceres turns out to be a world with untold wonders, with vivid bright spots likely made of dried mineral salts and hazes apparently triggered by daytime heating, drawing a comparison to comets and strikingly differentiating it from neighboring bodies in the asteroid belt, according to the latest results from NASA’s Dawn mission.…

  • Dawn spacecraft moves in for a close-up of Ceres

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    This mosaic shows Ceres’ Occator crater and surrounding terrain from an altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers), as seen by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft. Occator is about 60 miles (90 kilometers) across and 2 miles (4 kilometers) deep. Occator is home to the brightest area on Ceres, which tends to appear overexposed in most images. This…

  • Dawn gets better look at bright spots on Ceres

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    This image taken by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, shows Occator crater on Ceres, home to a collection of intriguing bright spots. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, nearly halfway through its exploration of the dwarf planet Ceres, has returned its best images yet of a mysterious grouping of bright spots inside a crater on the Texas-sized world,…