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Dawn’s trajectory

Dawn’s trajectory
Dawn’s trajectory Earth’s and Ceres’ orbits will bring them to their maximum separation on March 4. Earth’s orbit is shown in green and Ceres’ is in purple. Dawn’s interplanetary trajectory is in blue. Compare this figure with the ones depicting Dawn and Earth on opposite sides of the sun in December 2014, Dawn equidistant from Earth and the sun in April 2015, and Dawn and Earth at their minimum separation in July 2015. Also note that Earth has completed one full loop around the sun in the year since March 2015, when Dawn arrived at Ceres. During the same period, Ceres, traveling in a higher heliocentric orbit, has completed only about a fifth of a revolution. NASA / JPL-Caltech