Ceres

6 Stories

Ceres Bright Spots
Now a Double Mystery

Apr 14, 2015 4:28 AM CDT

Ceres Bright Spots Now a Double Mystery

Some are cold but others aren't, Dawn spacecraft reveals

(Newser) - NASA now has a spacecraft in orbit for a long-awaited look at Ceres—and while researchers are learning a lot about the dwarf planet, they're now doubly puzzled by the planet's mysterious bright spots . As the Dawn spacecraft closes in, scientists have realized there are multiple bright spots,...

'I Am in Orbit
Around Ceres,'
Spacecraft Tweets

Mar 6, 2015 9:57 AM CST

'I Am in Orbit Around Ceres,' Spacecraft Tweets

Dawn, pulled in by dwarf planet's gravity, is first craft to orbit 2 extraterrestrial objects

(Newser) - You heard it straight from the spacecraft's mouth: "Confirmed: I am in orbit around #Ceres." That was the tweet sent out from the Dawn Mission at 9:37am EST this morning to announce NASA's first spacecraft to arrive at a dwarf planet. The agency confirmed the...

Mission May Unravel Mystery
of Ceres' 2 Bright Spots

Feb 26, 2015 12:42 PM CST

Mission May Unravel Mystery of Ceres' 2 Bright Spots

NASA spacecraft enters the dwarf planet's orbit on March 6

(Newser) - With a NASA spacecraft closing in on the dwarf planet Ceres , scientists were looking forward to figuring out the origins of a mysterious bright spot. But it turns out there are actually two bright spots, right next to each other, reports Mashable . The best guess continues to be ice of...

Get Ready to Welcome
Pluto Back as a Planet

OPINION

Feb 25, 2015 6:34 PM CST

Get Ready to Welcome Pluto Back as a Planet

Astronomer thinks Ceres will join the club, too

(Newser) - Vanderbilt astronomer David Weintraub thinks Pluto was wrongly kicked out of the planet club in 2006. But he's confident that this is going to be a very big year for Pluto and for another so-called "dwarf planet" named Ceres, he writes in the Conversation . NASA spacecraft will visit...

Vapor Rising From Dwarf Planet Could Signal Life

Sign of Life?
Vapor Rises
on Dwarf Planet

Jan 23, 2014 12:35 AM CST

Sign of Life? Vapor Rises on Dwarf Planet

Find suggests Ceres has huge subsurface ocean

(Newser) - There may be a new contender for the likeliest place to host life elsewhere in our solar system—and it's not a planet or a moon. Astronomers have spotted water vapor from Ceres, classed as both the smallest dwarf planet and largest asteroid, marking the first time water has...

NASA Launches Asteroid Rocket

Sep 27, 2007 10:30 AM CDT

NASA Launches Asteroid Rocket

First 'interplanetary' spaceship to visit two asteroids

(Newser) - This morning NASA launched a spacecraft that's headed to the asteroid belt, where it will get a close-up look at the belt's largest bodies, asteroid Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres. It's NASA’s first multi-target mission, and Dawn, which one engineer called “the first real interplanetary spaceship,...

6 Stories