REAL LIFE NEWS: PHOTOGRAPHING CERES
by Hazed
The Dawn satellite is on its way to Ceres, a dwarf planet in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and it’s sent back its latest images – click the source links below to see one of them. NASA said the photos capture a resolution of 8.5 miles per pixel, the most detailed snaps of Ceres to date.
Dawn should arrive at Ceres on March 6 and will go into orbit around it, spending 16 months studying it. It’s a fascinating body; it’s the largest object in the asteroid belt, at 950km wide, which is why it’s designated a dwarf planet. It has a bright spot in its northern hemisphere which has been identified by the Hubble Space Telescope, but scientists don’t know exactly what it is. The most likely explanation is that it’s an impact crater of some kind. Hopefully Dawn will be able to answer that question.
Following Rosetta’s visit to a comet, and with New Horizons flying past Pluto on July, it’s an exciting time for exploration of the Solar System.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31156589
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/02/06/nasa_dawn_gets_all_up_in_ceres_face_for_closeup_snaps/
