Explanation: Ceres and Vesta are, respectively, only around 950 kilometers and 530 kilometers in diameter - about the size of Texas and Arizona. But they are two of the largest of over 100,000 minor bodies orbiting in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. These remarkably detailed Hubble Space Telescope images show brightness and color variations across the surface of the two small worlds. The variations could represent large scale surface features or areas of different compositon. The Hubble image data will help astronomers plan for a visit by the asteroid-hopping Dawn spacecraft, scheduled for launch on July 7 and intended to orbit first Vesta and then Ceres after a four year interplanetary cruise. Though Shakespeare might not have been impressed, nomenclature introduced by the International Astronomical Union in 2006 classifies nearly spherical Ceres as a dwarf planet.

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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.

Publikacii s klyuchevymi slovami: Ceres - dwarf planet - karlikovaya planeta - Vesta - Cerera Publikacii so slovami: Ceres - dwarf planet - karlikovaya planeta - Vesta - Cerera
Sm. takzhe: Makemake i ee sputnik Ostatki solenoi vody na Cerere Virtual'nyi polet nad asteroidom Vesta Neobychnaya gora Ahuna na asteroide Cerera Cerealiya fakula Haumea iz vneshnei chasti Solnechnoi sistemy "Pashal'nyi krolik" podhodit k NGC 4725 Vse publikacii na tu zhe temu >>