Dawn probe has sent new pictures of Ceres

Dawn space probe ever closer to their destination - the dwarf planet Ceres. Now the distance from the probe to the planetoid - just a few thousand kilometers. And the unit continues to send more and more high-quality images of the surface of Ceres. New photos made at a distance of 5100 kilometers from the dwarf planet and resolution images - 480 meters per pixel.

These photos were taken on May 23, just a week ago. June 3 will come to probe Ceres at a minimum distance of 4,400 kilometers. Of course, the pictures will be even better, and the new images will be considered the very bright spots, whatever they were.




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At this time, the probe was not able to photograph the spot, but there is a matter of time. Pretty high-quality images of spots probe sent last time, removing the Ceres from a distance of 7.2 thousand kilometers.

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Let me remind you that the purpose of Dawn - the study of dwarf planets. Thus, during the 14 months studied probe Vesta, now he is close to Ceres. Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt. The diameter of the planet is 950 kilometers. Perhaps, Ceres has huge deposits of water ice. Some scientists believe that under the thick ice crust may exist and liquid water ocean.

Dawn interplanetary probe Ceres reached at the beginning of March 2015. From the Earth to the unit was sent to 27 January 2007.

Source: geektimes.ru/post/251162/