NASA space probe “Dawn” has finally reached the closest to the surface of the Ceres orbit. Now we can learn extensively the dwarf planet from a distance of 386 kilometers. NASA has already begun to publish the first photos taken by the probe with a new orbit.
The Dawn mission is the first in the world reached the dwarf planet (sorry, Pluto, but it’s true). Arriving at Ceres in March, the spacecraft entered its orbit and began to collect scientific data. Ceres is also classified as an asteroid is the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
From a distance of 386 kilometres of Dawn sees Ceres as you would see a basketball from a distance of 17 cm from the eyes. Resolution new photos — about 42 meters per pixel.
Some of the photos are also available in 3D for owners of red-blue points.
Dawn will remain in this orbit until the end of the mission, so we are likely to see many more photos of this mysterious world in the near future. The probe card is of Ceres and collects information on the composition of the crust, and carefully studying those strange bright spot which not so long ago caused a lot of noise.
The financing of the mission is scheduled until June 2016.