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Strange landscapes on Ceres

Strange landscapes on Ceres
Strange landscapes on Ceres Dawn observed this strange landscape on June 22 as it streaked only 21 miles (34 kilometers) overhead. (Two photos were stitched together to make this image.) The main bright structure is elevated and has a flat top, similar to a mesa. It is about one mile (1.5 km) in its longest dimension. (We will provide an interesting context for that size in a subsequent Dawn Journal.) The scene is in the southwestern part of Cerealia Facula, the famously bright area at the center of Occator Crater. You can spot this bright feature as an isolated patch in pictures Dawn took from higher altitude, including some here. Note that the image presented here is rotated so sunlight comes from the top to make it easier to interpret the shadowing. You can rotate the picture 180 degrees or see it oriented for the context with the rest of Cerealia Facula in the original released image. NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA