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Dawn XMO7 orbit The solid ellipse is Dawn's orbit around Ceres, XMO7, ranging from 22 miles (35 kilometers) to 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers). The spacecraft orbits counterclockwise from this perspective, going around once every 27. As shown in March, the orbit itself gradually rotates, so the lowest altitude shifts south. Dawn maneuvered to XMO7 early in June. The dashed circle shows the previous lowest altitude, LAMO/XMO1. NASA / JPL-Caltech