Quantcast
ZME Science
  • CoronavirusNEW
  • News
  • Environment
    • Climate
    • Animals
    • Renewable Energy
    • Eco tips
    • Environmental Issues
    • Green Living
  • Health
    • Alternative Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Diseases
    • Genetics
    • Mind & Brain
    • Nutrition
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
    • Feature Post
    • Art
    • Great Pics
    • Design
    • Fossil Friday
    • AstroPicture
    • GeoPicture
    • Did you know?
    • Offbeat
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
Home Space Astronomy

NASA reveals two new spectacular photos of Ceres

NASA released a new set of images of Ceres - and they're a sight to behold.f

Dragos Mitrica by Dragos Mitrica
April 22, 2016
in Astronomy, News, Space
Get more science news like this...

Join the ZME newsletter for amazing science news, features, and exclusive scoops. More than 40,000 subscribers can't be wrong.

   

NASA released a new set of images of Ceres – and they’re a sight to behold.

A false-color image of Haulani Crater shows evidence of recent landslides. NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA

The pictures were taken by the Dawn spacecraft, a space probe launched by NASA in 2007 to study Vesta and Ceres. After spending time around Vesta and revealing a trove of valuable information about it, Dawn is now orbiting Ceres already providing some surprises.

“Ceres continues to amaze, yet puzzle us, as we examine our multitude of images, spectra and now energetic particle bursts,” said Chris Russell, Dawn principal investigator at the University of California, Los Angeles.

The image above is of the Haulani Crater, a surprisingly bright impact crater on Ceres. It was taken when Dawn was still in its high-altitude mapping orbit, about 1,480 kilometers (920 miles) above Ceres. Spectacular as this image is, it was made to look even better. The image has been color enhanced, and the blueish streak you see is not the natural color of the crater.

“Haulani perfectly displays the properties we would expect from a fresh impact into the surface of Ceres. The crater floor is largely free of impacts, and it contrasts sharply in color from older parts of the surface,” said Dr. Martin Hoffmann of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Germany, in a statement.

Oxo Crater with the “slump” to the bottom right. NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA/PSI

Another intriguing picture was snapped of the Oxo Crater, the second brightest feature on Ceres. Minerals on the bottom of this crater appear to be different than on the rest of the protoplanet, and astronomers want to study it in more detail in the future.

Tags: CeresDawn spacecraftVesta
Dragos Mitrica

Dragos Mitrica

Dragos has been working in geology for six years, and loving every minute of it. Now, his more recent focus is on paleoclimate and climatic evolution, though in his spare time, he also dedicates a lot of time to chaos theory and complex systems.

Follow ZME on social media

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Coronavirus
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
  • More

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Coronavirus
  • News
  • Environment
    • Climate
    • Animals
    • Renewable Energy
    • Eco tips
    • Environmental Issues
    • Green Living
  • Health
    • Alternative Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Diseases
    • Genetics
    • Mind & Brain
    • Nutrition
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
    • Feature Post
    • Art
    • Great Pics
    • Design
    • Fossil Friday
    • AstroPicture
    • GeoPicture
    • Did you know?
    • Offbeat
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.