Dawn Snaps 'Intimate Portrait' Of Ceres Revealing 'Dramatic Views' Of Occator Crater

'Unraveling the nature and history of this fascinating dwarf planet during the race of Dawn' s extended stay at Ceres has been thrilling, 'says Dawn principal investigator Carol Raymond of JPL.

Last month, NASA' s Dawn mission promised us unprecedented close -ups of the dwarf planet Ceres – the largest object in the asteroid belt stretching between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Now, the intrepid Dawn spacecraft, the first one to ever venture in this part of the solar system,

On Monday, NASA released two unique photos captured by Dawn 's cameras revealing "dramatic new views" of the Occator Crater on Ceres, a 50-mile (80-kilometer) wide impact site brimming with shiny salt deposits.

These are the closest-ever images taken from our solar system's only dwarf planet and offer unparalleled insight into the bright spots on Ceres – bizarre surface known as faculae, created by massive deposits of sodium carbonate.

Commenting on the photo release, Marc Rayman, Dawn's chief engineer and project manager at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, likened the pioneering spacecraft to a "master artist."

"Acquiring these spectacular pictures has been one of the greatest challenges in Dawn's extraordinary extraterrestrial expedition, and the results are bett er than we had ever hoped. Dawn is a master artist, adding rich details to the otherworldly beauty in its intimate portrait of Ceres.

As the Inquisitr Previously reported, the Dawn spacecraft maneuvered into a new orbit around Ceres in early June

In the past, the spacecraft had come as close as 240 miles (385 kilometers) of Ceres. Dawn within 22 miles (35 kilometers) from its surface. kilometers) above Ceres, showcases the group of bright spots located in the east of Occert Crater and collectively known as Vinalia Faculae

Discovered by Dawn in 2015, when the spacecraft first reached Ceres, these mysterious faculae – including the largest one of them, Cerealia Facula, which resides at the heart of Occator Crater – are the biggest carbon deposits ever uncovered outside our planet

As impressive as they may be, no one really knows exactly what caused them. So far, it is still unclear whether the faculae has been exposed to a shallow, sub-surface reservoir of mineral-laden water, or from a deeper source of brines (liquid water enriched in salts) percolating upward through fractures, "state NASA

This second extended Dawn mission around Ceres might finally yield an answer to this question, and a more detailed analysis of the dwarf planet's composition. Thanks to low-altitude observations with Dawn's gamma ray and neutron detector, and visible and infrared mapping spectrometer.]

The other Dawn snapshot released by NASA on July 2 screenshots Cerealia Facula has never been seen before. Taken on June 22, the photo also reveals the prominent mound on the western side of the facula

To snap this picture, Dawn fired up to a depth of about 21 miles (34 kilometers) of Ceres' surface.

According to Space.com this is likely the last time that Dawn's principal investigator, Carol Raymond of JPL, chimed in on the spacecraft's current mission at Ceres and its upcoming finale.

"The first view of Ceres obtained by Dawn beckoned with a single, blinding bright spot. Unraveling the nature and history of this fascinating dwarf planet during the course of Dawn's extended stay, and it is especially fitting that Dawn's last act will provide rich new data sets to test those theories. "

Launched in 2007 , the Dawn spacecraft first popped by Vesta – the second-largest body in the asteroid belt, currently making its closest approach to Earth in 20 years, the Inquisitr recently reported – which it orbited for a little more than a Year, from July 2011 to September 2012. Then, Dawn moved on to investigate Ceres, which it has been orbiting since March 2015.

NASA's Dawn mission is the only one to study two extraterrestrial targets and is estimated to last until the second half of 2018. As reported by the JPL, which causes the Dawn mission, the spacecraft will not be crashing into Ceres, but instead will remain frozen in its last-known orbit, in order to protect Ceres from Ea rthly contamination. "