Dawn's interplanetary probe is approaching the orbit of the dwarf planet Ceres

There are many interesting objects to explore in the Solar System, and one of them is the dwarf planet Ceres. This celestial body is not a satellite of any planet, the object is in the asteroid belt. At the same time, Ceres is of known interest to scientists, by virtue of its composition.

The fact is that, according to modern estimates, the amount of fresh water in Ceres may be equal to the amount of water on Earth (and this is with a planet diameter of 950 kilometers). And Ceres is not far from Earth. And now Dawn's interplanetary probe is approaching Ceres, which can clarify many issues.
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Scientists have already taken pictures of the surface of Ceres using Hubble and Keck Observatory telescopes (Hawaii). It is already known that water evaporates from the surface of Ceres. Why this is happening is still unclear, perhaps this is evidence of the work of cryovolcanoes.

The Dawn probe was launched in 2007, and is now heading towards Ceres at a speed of about 725 kilometers per hour. As early as March 2015, the probe should reach the orbit of Ceres, and begin a detailed study of the planet. What will scientists see? So far, few can answer this question. “Ceres is an almost perfect mystery for us ... What we can predict with confidence is that we will be surprised,” said Christopher Russell, a representative of the mission of Dawn.



As in other cases, the photographing of the planet will begin ahead of the estimated period. Already at the end of January, the probe will begin transmitting photographs of Ceres to Earth. And these pictures will be the highest quality of all that scientists have received so far. As we get closer to Ceres, we will learn more and more interesting things about this dwarf planet, and there is very little waiting.

By the way, in 2011 the Dawn probe was in the orbit of the asteroid Vesta. If the rapprochement with Ceres is successful, then this probe will be the first in the history of astronautics apparatus, which was in orbit of two objects of the Solar system.

The study of Ceres will take place in three stages. The first stage is the study of the planet from a distance of 13.5 thousand kilometers. The second is 4.5 thousand kilometers. And the third is 1.5 thousand kilometers.