NASA Releases Detailed Maps of Ceres’ Polar Regions

Nov 26, 2015 by Sergio Prostak
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NASA scientists, using cameras aboard the agency’s Dawn spacecraft, have created the first detailed mosaics of Ceres’ north and south polar regions.

This mosaic from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft showcases Ceres’ north pole. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA.

This mosaic from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft showcases Ceres’ north pole. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA.

The newly-released mosaics are composed of images acquired by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft between August 17 and October 23, 2015. The images were obtained when the spacecraft was 915 miles (1,470 km) from Ceres.

Detailed maps of Ceres’ polar regions allow members of the Dawn science team to study the craters in these areas and compare them to those covering other parts of the dwarf planet.

Variations in shape and complexity can point to different surface compositions. In addition, the bottoms of some craters located close to the poles receive no sunlight throughout the orbit of Ceres around the Sun.

This mosaic from Dawn showcases Ceres’ south pole. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA.

This mosaic from Dawn showcases Ceres’ south pole. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA.

Dawn spent more than two months orbiting 915 miles above the dwarf planet. Each revolution, flying over the north pole to the south pole and back to the north, took the orbiter 19 hours.

“Mission planners carefully chose the orbital parameters to coordinate the spacecraft’s travels with the 9-hour rotation period of Ceres (one Cerean day) and with the field of view of the camera so that in 12 orbits over the lit hemisphere, Dawn could photograph all of the terrain,” explained Dr Marc Rayman of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.

The region around Ceres’ south pole appears black because this area has been in shade ever since Dawn’s arrival on March 6, 2015, and is therefore not visible.

At the north polar region, craters Jarovit, Ghanan and Asari are visible, as well as the mountain Ysolo Mons. Near the south pole, craters Attis and Zadeni can be seen.

Dawn is currently some 270 million miles (435 million km) from Earth, or 1,165 times as far as the Moon and 2.93 times as far as the Sun.

Radio signals, traveling at the universal limit of the speed of light, take 48 minutes to make the round trip.

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