NASA's Dawn spacecraft provides 'best-ever view' of dwarf planet Ceres
NASA's Dawn spacecraft has returned what it's calling the "best-ever view" of Ceres, a dwarf planet. Ceres is the largest body between Mars and Jupiter, and it may have liquid water beneath its mantle.
The images were taken on Jan. 25 from 147,000 miles away, and they represent "a new milestone for a spacecraft that soon will become the first human-made probe to visit a dwarf planet," according to NASA. On March 6, Dawn will begin orbiting Ceres and will measure variations in the light it reflects.
"We know so little about our vast solar system, but thanks to economical missions like Dawn, those mysteries are being solved," Jim Green, Planetary Science Division Director at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said in a statement. NASA hopes Dawn's images will help scientists better understand how the solar system began.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.
-
Ukraine's disappearing army
Under the Radar Every day unwilling conscripts and disillusioned veterans are fleeing the front
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Ken Martin: the Minnesota politico turned DNC chair
In the Spotlight Martin, the head of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, was elected with over half the vote
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Montenegro offers Adriatic adventures without the crowds
The Week Recommends There is room for everyone in this Balkan destination
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
Europe records big leap in renewable energy
Speed Read Solar power overtook coal for the first time
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Blue Origin conducts 1st test flight of massive rocket
Speed Read The Jeff Bezos-founded space company conducted a mostly successful test flight of its 320-foot-tall New Glenn rocket
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US won its war on 'murder hornets,' officials say
Speed Read The announcement comes five years after the hornets were first spotted in the US
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Dark energy data suggest Einstein was right
Speed Read Albert Einstein's 1915 theory of general relativity has been proven correct, according to data collected by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New DNA tests of Pompeii dead upend popular stories
Speed Read An analysis of skeletal remains reveals that some Mount Vesuvius victims have been wrongly identified
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
NASA's Europa Clipper blasts off, seeking an ocean
Speed Read The ship is headed toward Jupiter on a yearslong journey
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Detailed map of fly's brain holds clues to human mind
Speed Read This remarkable fruit fly brain analysis will aid in future human brain research
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Blind people will listen to next week's total eclipse
Speed Read While they can't see the event, they can hear it with a device that translates the sky's brightness into music
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published