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Vesta & Ceres A collection of pictures of asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres taken by space probes.

Artist's concept of Dawn heading toward Ceres Source: NASA

On September 27, 2007, NASA launched the Dawn spacecraft, which on July 16, 2011 entered an orbit around 4 Vesta, the largest asteroid visited to date. After orbiting it for over a year, the Dawn spacecraft left Vesta on September 5, 2012. On March 6, 2015, it arrived in orbit around Ceres, becoming the first spacecraft in orbit of a dwarf planet and the first probe to orbit two objects other than the Earth and the Moon during the same mission. Here are our favorite pictures of Vesta and Ceres. Like our other space galleries, the pictures have not been selected because of their scientific significance but because of their esthetic value and sometimes because of their historical importance.

Due to their small size, in telescopes on Earth, asteroids only appear as dim stars (asteroid means star-like). Prior to the Dawn mission, the best images we had were small, fuzzy pictures taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Hubble image of Vesta May 16, 2007 Source: NASA/ESA

Hubble image of Ceres January 2004 Source: JPL/NASA

Vesta

With a diameter of 326 miles, Vesta is the largest asteroid and the second largest object in the Asteroid Belt (only dwarf planet Ceres is larger). Vesta was discovered by Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers on 29 March 1807. From July 16, 2011 to September 5, 2012, the Dawn spacecraft orbited Vesta; the closes orbit brought it to within 130 miles above Vesta's surface.

Vesta from 26,000 miles before orbit insertion July 9, 2011 Source: Wikipedia

Mosaic of northern hemisphere from a distance of 1,5707 miles; August 23, 2011 Source: NASA / JPL / Daniel Macháček

True color mosaic of the south polar region from a distance of 1,709 miles, August 12-18, 2011 Source: NASA / JPL / Daniel Macháček

Central Mound at the South Pole from a distance of 1,709 miles, August 12, 2011 Source: Wikipedia

Snowman Craters from a distance of 1,709 miles, August 6, 2011 Source: NASA

Ceres

Ceres is the only oblject in the Asteroid Belt, that qualifies as a dwarf planet. With a diameter of 526 miles, it accounts for almost one third of the mass of the Astteroid Belt. Ceres was discovered on January 1, 1801 by Sicilian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi. It was originally considered a planet, but after the discovery of other Asteroid Belt objects, it was classified as an asteroid. On August 24, 2006, the International Astronomical Union adopted a new classification for objects in the solar system and Ceres was declared a dwarf planet.

Ceres from a distance of 8,400 miles May 4, 2015 Source: Wikipedia

Southern hemisphere from an altitude of 915 miles; August 17, 2015 Source: Wikipedia

First color map of Ceres (exaggerated color), March 2015 Source: Wikipedia

While Vesta's composition with an iron core and a dry, rocky surface is similar to that of the inner planets, Ceres consists of the remnants of a frozen ocean topped by a heavily cratered crust of clays and salts. One of the most remarkable discovery was that of over 100 bright shining spots rich in salt which were identified as remnants of cryovolcanoes through which the salty subsurface ice finds its way to the surface as a slushy brine. On November 1, 2018, NASA reported the loss of communication with the Dawn spacecraft, which at this time had run out of fuel. The spacecraft will remain in orbit for at least half a century.

Ice-spewing cryovolcano in Ceres's Occator crater Source: NASA/JPL - www.sciencemag.org

Occator crater from a distance of 910 miles August 17, 2015 Source: NASA

Occator crater from a distance of 910 miles December 10, 2015 Source: Wikipedia

Rim of Occator crater from the closest orbit (27 miles) June 9, 2018 Source: NASA

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