Artist’s view of bright spots on Ceres imaged by the Dawn spacecraft

This artist’s impression is based on a detailed map of the surface compiled from images taken from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft in orbit around the dwarf planet Ceres. It shows the very bright patches of material in the crater Occator and elsewhere. New observations using the HARPS spectrograph on the ESO 3.6-metre telescope at La Silla in Chile have revealed unexpected daily changes on these spots, suggesting that they change under the influence of sunlight as Ceres rotates.

 

Credit:

ESO/L.Calçada/NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA/Steve Albers/N. Risinger (skysurvey.org)

About the Image

Id:eso1609a
Type:Artwork
Release date:16 March 2016, 12:00
Related releases:eso1609
Size:5000 x 3000 px

About the Object

Name:Ceres
Type:Solar System : Interplanetary Body : Dwarf planet
Category:Solar System

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