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Exploring Ceres

Exploring Ceres
Exploring Ceres During the course of 2015, Ceres grows from a small and unremarkable disc to a complex and intriguing world in this selection of Dawn’s pictures. It starts with the first view on Jan. 13 at a distance of 238,000 miles (383,000 kilometers) and concludes on Dec. 10 only 240 miles (385 kilometers) away. The keen-eyed observer will notice several pictures with the unmistakable glow in Occator crater (discussed below), already evident here on Feb. 4 (and in other pictures taken even on Jan. 13), as well as the towering conical Ahuna Mons on June 6, Aug. 19 (Aug. 18 PDT) and Oct. 14. NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA