This is a significant milestone in space exploration. NASA’s Dawn probe orbits Ceres and marks the first time a spacecraft has orbited a dwarf planet. At about 04: 39 PST (12: 39 GMT) on Friday, at a distance of 38,000 miles (61,000 kilometers) from Ceres, Dawn was captured by the dwarf planet’s gravity. NASA reports that at 05: 36 GMT, mission controllers at JPL in Pasadena (California) received an alert from Dawn indicating that the dwarf planet’s gravity was causing Dawn to enter orbit. Marc Rayman is Dawn’s chief engineer and mission manager at JPL. He stated that “Since its detection in 1801, Ceres, it was first known as an asteroid, later a planet and then a dwarf planet. After a trip of 3.1 million miles (4.9 miliarde kilometers) and seven years, Dawn has finally called Ceres home. Dawn’s orbit takes Dawn to Ceres. These crescent views were taken on March 1. Image: NASA JPL Dawn has two world records: It was the first to orbit extraterrestrial targets. It explored Vesta (a giant asteroid) and took thousands of photos. 2. Ceres was the first dwarf planet to be visited. Vesta and Ceres are the two largest bodies within the main solar system asteroid belt. It orbits Jupiter and Mars and is the center of the sun. Ceres is approximately one third of the total mass of the main asteroid belt. It has a diameter 950 km (590m). Dawn’s latest images of Ceres, taken March 1, show the crescent in shadow. This is because Ceres was placed on the dwarf planet’s side, away from the sun, until mid-April. JPL scientists will be able to see even more detail of Dawn as it orbits the dwarf planet. Chris Russell (UCLA’s principal investigator of Dawn) said that they feel “exhilarated.” There is much more to be done over the next year, but the station has ample resources and a solid plan to achieve our scientific objectives. We may be able to find the mystery bright lights on Ceres’ surface now that Dawn has moved closer to it. Dawn snapped a photo in February showing two bright lights next each other within a basin. Scientists believe they could be plumes from ice volcanoes or the result of some impacts that have exposed some of the underside of the surface. Named after the goddess Ceres, it was found by Father Giuseppe Piazzi of Palermo. He is a Sicilian Astrologer. This was the first time it was considered a planet. Portrait of Father Giuseppe Piazzi, pointing to Ceres. It was reduced to dwarf planet status when more objects were discovered in the same area. A dwarf planet, which orbits the sun, is an object large enough for its gravity to make it spherical, but not too big that its orbit is dominated by gravitational forces. It is also not a moon. According to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, “Ceres” was originally classified as an asteroid and then as a planet. Ceres, due to its similarity with Pluto and Eris was made a dwarf planet in 2006,. Father Piazzi gave the name Ceres to the celestial body after Ceres, the Roman goddess of harvests and agriculture. The mythological names for its craters are those of goddesses and gods associated with agriculture and vegetation. NASA Video: Dawn approaching Ceres orbit
