NASA's Dawn Spacecraft Captures New Image of Icy Dwarf Planet Ceres

NASA's Dawn spacecraft is closing in on the dwarf planet, Ceres. Now, the spacecraft has taken some new images of the tiny planet, revealing pictures that are about three times better than the ones taken in early December.

Dawn is actually traveling toward the dwarf planet to learn a bit more about Ceres. Over the next several weeks, the spacecraft will deliver better and better images of Ceres until it enters orbit on March 6. Then, Dawn will conduct a 16-month study of the dwarf planet.

Ceres itself is the largest body in the main asteroid belt, which lies between Mars and Jupiter. It has an average diameter of 590 miles, and is thought to contain a large amount of ice. In fact, some researchers believe that beneath this ice, there could be an entire ocean.

"We know so much about the solar system and yet so little about dwarf planet Ceres," said Marc Rayman, Dawn's chief engineer and mission director, in a news release. "Now, Dawn is ready to change that."

Dawn will examine the surface of Ceres with unprecedented detail. Already, the spacecraft has delivered more than 30,000 images and many insights about Vesta, which is the second most massive body in the asteroid belt where Ceres is located.

Currently, Dawn continues its trek through space in order to rendezvous with the dwarf planet. As it gets closer, researchers will receive more and clearer images of Ceres and once it finally arrives, scientists will be able to get down to the real work of understanding the tiny planet.

For more information about the Dawn mission, you can visit NASA's website.

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