Dawn Takes a Closer Look at Occator (warning big image)

[n2doc]

This image, made using images taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows Occator crater on Ceres, home to a collection of intriguing bright spots.

The bright spots are much brighter than the rest of Ceres' surface, and tend to appear overexposed in most images. This view is a composite of two images of Occator: one using a short exposure that captures the detail in the bright spots, and one where the background surface is captured at normal exposure.

The images were obtained by Dawn during the mission's High Altitude Mapping Orbit (HAMO) phase, from which the spacecraft imaged the surface at a resolution of about 450 feet (140 meters) per pixel.

http://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/ceres-bright-spots-seen-in-striking-new-detail

The new up-close view of Occator crater from Dawn's current vantage point reveals better-defined shapes of the brightest, central spot and features on the crater floor. Because these spots are so much brighter than the rest of Ceres' surface, the Dawn team combined two different images into a single composite view -- one properly exposed for the bright spots, and one for the surrounding surface.

Scientists also have produced animations that provide a virtual fly-around of the crater, including a colorful topographic map.

more at link

[marym625]

1. Too cool!

[mhatrw]

2. pop it

[BlueJazz]

3. My half-ass theory: I notice the cracks on the top white spot.

(the one with the square and irregular white dots surrounding it)
The cracks run toward the center large white hole?.
I wonder if pressure from below cause the center white spot and also tried to come through the other top white spot. ?...but never completely made it....except through the smaller holes surrounding the top spot.

[hunter]

4. Someone shot Ceres with a neutron beamer.

Kerwan is the entrance wound and Occator is the exit wound.

That's my Star Trek explanation.