New Images of Ceres With Higher Resolution than Hubble

For the first time, the mission Dawn has just given us the clearest picture of the dwarf planet Ceres ever.



source: photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov...

These images of the planet (which is 3.6 times smaller than the Moon) were taken the 25th of January this year, and are the clearest we have to this date, when Dawn was some 147,000 miles from the planet. Their resolution now surpasses Hubble's, which was the best we had until now.

The images are being capture by two framing cameras located on top of the probe (a bit like two eyes) and which have apertures of 20mm.

a reply to: swanne

Beautiful! Is this the same mission that is going to take pictures of pluto?

a reply to: Shepard64

No, the Dawn Mission "only" covers Vesta and Ceres.

The New Horizon Mission is the one covering Pluto and its moons.

So, what's the bright spot? Cerean Las Vegas?

a reply to: Tusks

The white spot is still a mystery at this resolution.

We'll probably have to wait for the probe to get into orbit around the planet and get a closer look. That will be in April.

a reply to: swanne

Pretty cool close-up of something so far off; but I do have to wonder why the bright spot seems to... twitch, if you will... Assuming it's because of the fact that it's a pair of cameras; but still... intriguing.

Thanks for the post. Cool stuff.

There.....there. Did you see it, run it back, resolve it. Zoom in in in , there it is. Isn't that a human sarcophagus?

a reply to: TerryMcGuire

I SAW IT! OMFG! Call... Someone!!!

Nice laugh

a reply to: TerryMcGuire

No, it's obviously an albino goldfish from Atlantis holding a sock made of antimatter and signing Carmina Burana.

Seriously though: I venture the guess that it could be a large boulder or some rocks made of light-coloured material.

Ceres is quite small, really - its total surface area is 2,850,000 square kilometers, that is, approximatively the total land area of Argentina (2,780,400 km^2).

For you fine americans out there: 2,850,000 km^2 equals 1,770,907 mi^2.

a reply to: swanne

So if this was taken on the 25th, how come we have a thread on it posted on the 24th?
here it is?

Do we have a conspiracy here?

I didn't know about two dwarf planets in the asteroid belt! That's really cool beans. Ceres & Vesta. Well, you know, I'd install a color camera on a satellite to take photos of space objects. Seems absurd that b&w photos are being returned.

originally posted by: SecretKnowledge
So if this was taken on the 25th, how come we have a thread on it posted on the 24th?
here it is?

Do we have a conspiracy here?

Hehe Please allow me humble self to solve this mighty conspiracy.

The thread you are talking about was indeed posted before the 25. But it contains old images, too (from the 13th):



Whereas this image...


...was taken the 25th. Notice how more sharp it is compared to those of the 13th.

a reply to: Asynchrony

If memory serves it has a color camera...and it will arrive early march, not april. Images might take that long, depending on what's really on the surface

Sweet picture.....good year for little planets.

a reply to: swanne

Aha! Well done conspiracy solved..

Now, as for this bit here,

Hehe Please allow me humble self to solve this mighty conspiracy.

Is that you trying on a bit of Irishness or wha'?

a reply to: SecretKnowledge

always glad to help!

Is that you trying on a bit of Irishness or wha'?

Why, you sound surprised... Do you not know that I am 1/4 irish.

a reply to: swanne

Do you not know that I am 1/4 irish.

Well that writing you have under your name in your avatar is hardly a giveawawy now is it?

That's no moon, its a space station.

a reply to: SecretKnowledge

Good point

WAIT THERES MORE !!!!

Just seen on "NASA.gov/ceres" about the bright spot on Ceres having a COMPANION ...

Dwarf planet Ceres continues to puzzle scientists as NASA's Dawn spacecraft gets closer to being captured into orbit around the object. The latest images from Dawn, taken nearly 29,000 miles (46,000 kilometers) from Ceres, reveal that a bright spot that stands out in previous images lies close to yet another bright area.
"Ceres' bright spot can now be seen to have a companion of lesser brightness, but apparently in the same basin. This may be pointing to a volcano-like origin of the spots, but we will have to wait for better resolution before we can make such geologic interpretations," said Chris Russell, principal investigator for the Dawn mission, based at the University of California, Los Angeles.

The images that they have put up are a lot clearer as well...




Gonna make a new thread about this .... but i still not hit my 20 yet so i cant just yet.. and i cant even add an image to here