Master Guide
March 2015 - Jan 20, 2022 4:27:51 GMT
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Post by Hill on Mar 24, 2015 18:39:23 GMT
Over about the past eight years NASA's DAWN spacecraft, propelled by an ion engine, has been on a mission to explore Vesta and Ceres, the two largest minor planets in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. While orbiting Vesta the probes cameras captured a map of much of the surface. I have created an overlay map of the surface and projected it on to Google Earth. The map does not include the poles and it also does not show the potato shape of Vesta, but has the spherical shape of Earth.
Vesta photographed by Dawn on 24 July 2011. The framing camera was developed in Germany for NASA by the Max Planck Institute and the DLR, the German Space Agency. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
HERE is a bit more about the views at Vesta.
After leaving Vesta, DAWN headed toward Ceres. You can keep track of the missions progress online and in a this thread.
For best results uncheck all layers, including terrain and atmosphere, when you download the attachment.
Vesta surface overlay_V2.kmz (793 B)
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Master Guide
March 2015 - Jan 20, 2022 4:27:51 GMT
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Post by Hill on Mar 29, 2015 20:42:56 GMT
DAWN went into orbit around Ceres on March 6. One puzzle is a pair of reflective areas on Ceres. NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA NASA pageI have used this projection to make a globe of Ceres. See the attachment. Turn off all layers and Atmosphere ( on the Google Earth viewer page ) for best effect. Unlike Vesta, Ceres really is spherical and should look natural except for the missing poles.
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Master Guide
March 2015 - Jan 20, 2022 4:27:51 GMT
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Post by Hill on Apr 18, 2015 18:44:55 GMT
After spending more than a month in orbit on the dark side of dwarf planet Ceres, NASA's Dawn spacecraft has captured several views of the sunlit north pole of this intriguing world. These images were taken on April 10 from a distance of 21,000 miles (33,000 kilometers), and they represent the highest-resolution views of Ceres to date. Subsequent images of Ceres will show surface features at increasingly better resolution. Dawn arrived at Ceres on March 6, marking the first time a spacecraft has orbited a dwarf planet. Previously, the spacecraft explored giant asteroid Vesta for 14 months from 2011 to 2012. Dawn has the distinction of being the only spacecraft to orbit two extraterrestrial targets. Ceres, with an average diameter of about 590 miles (950 kilometers), is the largest body in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Dawn has been using its ion propulsion system to maneuver to its first science orbit at Ceres, which it will reach on April 23. The spacecraft will remain at a distance of 8,400 miles (13,500 kilometers) from the dwarf planet until May 9. Afterward, it will make its way to lower orbits. SOURCE
This animation shows the north pole of dwarf planet Ceres as seen by the Dawn spacecraft on April 10, 2015. Dawn was at a distance of 21,000 miles (33,000 kilometers) when its framing camera took these images. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
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Master Guide
March 2015 - Jan 20, 2022 4:27:51 GMT
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Post by Hill on May 15, 2015 22:27:47 GMT
AS the DAWN spacecraft spirals closer to Ceres, it is providing us with a better view. More from NASA HEREThis animation shows a sequence of images taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft on May 4, 2015, from a distance of 8,400 miles (13,600 kilometers), in its RC3 mapping orbit. The image resolution is 0.8 mile (1.3 kilometers) per pixel.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
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Full Member
May 2015 - May 17, 2015 10:07:02 GMT
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Post by shadowdragon on May 17, 2015 11:03:11 GMT
Hopefully we find out what those mysterious white spots are, they've been begging for an explanation since Hubble saw them over a decade ago. there is also a HUGE lone mountain on the bottom of that animation so big it pokes above the terminator into view, next to it is an interesting rift of internal origin.
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Master Guide
March 2015 - Jan 20, 2022 4:27:51 GMT
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Post by Hill on May 17, 2015 19:47:26 GMT
Hopefully we find out what those mysterious white spots are, they've been begging for an explanation since Hubble saw them over a decade ago. there is also a HUGE lone mountain on the bottom of that animation so big it pokes above the terminator into view, next to it is an interesting rift of internal origin. Oh, I didn't realize Hubble showed any sign of them. So many places to see; so little time. HERE is a link.
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Master Guide
March 2015 - Jan 20, 2022 4:27:51 GMT
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Post by Hill on Jun 9, 2015 14:28:36 GMT
NASA has produced a sharper video of Ceres HERE
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Master Guide
March 2015 - Jan 20, 2022 4:27:51 GMT
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Post by Hill on Jun 22, 2015 15:01:29 GMT
Dawn's latest views of Ceres. www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4633.
A cluster of mysterious bright spots on dwarf planet Ceres can be seen in this image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft from an altitude of 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet (410 meters) per pixel, was taken on June 9, 2015. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
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Master Cartographer
April 2015 - Mar 29, 2024 1:11:36 GMT
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Post by syzygy on Nov 16, 2017 12:46:01 GMT
Hopefully we find out what those mysterious white spots are,... Just have bumped into this thread, let here without further explanations. I remember how exciting few months were while the answer has been formed! I just can not understand how I could missed to check around here... now I let here recent quotation from wikipedia/Ceres: and in case you have became a Ceres-bright spots-fan meanwhile, here you are your brand new avatar: source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceres_(dwarf_planet)best! g
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Master Cartographer
April 2015 - Mar 29, 2024 1:11:36 GMT
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Post by syzygy on Jul 19, 2018 6:22:27 GMT
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