Four stunning close-ups of Ceres

[Cassiopeia]

The image above is of Kupalo Crater, one of the youngest known craters on Ceres. The Dawn spacecraft acquired the image on December 21, 2015, from its low-altitude mapping orbit (LAMO). NASA says:

The crater has bright material exposed on its rim and walls, which could be salts. Its flat floor likely formed from impact melt and debris. This crater measures 16 miles (26 km) across and is located at southern mid-latitudes on Ceres. It’s named for a Slavic god of vegetation and harvest.

Dawn also captured Kupalo during its higher Survey orbit (see PIA19624) and from the high altitude mapping orbit, or HAMO (see PIA20124).

Ceres itself is less than 600 miles (945 km) across. It’s the largest object in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, and the largest minor planet within the orbit of Neptune.

Ceres’ designation has been changed several times since Giuseppe Piazzi at Palermo first spotted it on January 1, 1801. It was the first object to be discovered in an orbit between Mars and Jupiter, so of course there was great excitement surrounding Ceres’ discovery. At that time, people considered it to be a new planet, because – given the orbital spacing of other known planets in our solar system – Ceres was orbiting where a missing planet was thought to be.

Much more at link including additional photos:
http://earthsky.org/space/four-stunning-close-ups-of-ceres?utm_source=EarthSky+News&utm_campaign=ce351398ce-EarthSky_News&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c643945d79-ce351398ce-394533365

[randys1]

1. Fascinating. Thank you for this

Enjoy discovery like this while you still can, if you know who has anything to say about, science will be outlawed

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Great photos! Thank you, my dear Cassiopeia, for sharing them! n/t

[Cassiopeia]

3. Will do.

[2naSalit]

4. Thank you! nt

[ashling]

5. Ceres

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In ancient Roman religion, Ceres /ˈsɪəriːz/[1][2][3][4][5] (Latin: Cerēs [ˈkɛreːs]) was a goddess of agriculture, grain crops, fertility and motherly relationships.[6] She was originally the central deity in Rome's so-called plebeian or Aventine Triad, then was paired with her daughter Proserpina in what Romans described as "the Greek rites of Ceres". Her seven-day April festival of Cerealia included the popular Ludi Ceriales (Ceres' games). She was also honoured in the May lustratio of the fields at the Ambarvalia festival, at harvest-time, and during Roman marriages and funeral rites.
Ceres is the only one of Rome's many agricultural deities to be listed among the Dii Consentes, Rome's equivalent to the Twelve Olympians of Greek mythology. The Romans saw her as the counterpart of the Greek goddess Demeter, although Triptolemus was the god of farming[7] whose mythology was reinterpreted for Ceres in Roman art and literature.[6]

Etymology and origins[edit]

Ceres' name derives from the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European root *ḱerh₃-, meaning "to satiate, to feed",[8] which is also the root for Latin crescere "to grow" and through it, the English words create and increase. Roman etymologists thought ceres derived from the Latin verb gerere, "to bear, bring forth, produce", because the goddess was linked to pastoral, agricultural and human fertility. Archaic cults to Ceres are well-evidenced among Rome's neighbours in the Regal period, including the ancient Latins, Oscans and Sabellians, less certainly among the Etruscans and Umbrians. An archaic Faliscan inscription of c. 600 BC asks her to provide far (spelt wheat), which was a dietary staple of the Mediterranean world. Throughout the Roman era, Ceres' name was synonymous with grain and, by extension, with bread.[9]


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceres_(mythology)

[KelleyKramer]

6. Very interesting!

NASA has very few new probes scheduled for future launch. We need more of this! There is so much more to learn.

[Mrs. Ted Nancy]

7. I wonder...

when someone is going to see Jesus in that crater?

I just checked. Several sites have already claimed that they have seen their Lord and Savior.
The second coming is upon us. What is this agnostic to do? I guess I will do what I usually do -
eat ice cream after I get home from the gym.

Seriously though, cool pictures. I'm glad you posted these.

[elljay]

9. Do you first

check the ice cream for religious images before you bite off the Virgin Mary's head?

[niyad]

8. beautiful. thank you so much.