See a moving global view of Ceres at opposition – Astronomy Magazine

The Dawn spacecraft was launched in 2007 and arrived at the asteroid Vesta in 2011. The craft orbited Vesta for four years, revealing a fascinating world that is likely a smashed dwarf planet that once had running water. Using revolutionary ion thrusters, it was able to detach itself from Vestas gravitational influence and move towards Ceres, inserting itself in a distant orbit before gradually moving closer to the world.

While a potential third target was discussed, NASA scientists decided to keep Dawn at Ceres in order to reveal more about it and its history. The presence of ammonia ices hints that Ceres may not have formed in the asteroid belt, but instead migrated in from the Kuiper Belt, a smattering of rocky bodies bound by Neptunes gravity.

The craft will stay in a safe distant orbit over Ceres in perpetuity once the mission ends. (Of course, NASA has a funny habit of making missions last long past their original shelf life. Just look at Cassini or Opportunity.)

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See a moving global view of Ceres at opposition - Astronomy Magazine