New Delhi:
The new images released by US space agency NASA reveal the bright craters on dwarf planet Ceres. NASA’s dawn mission took these images 240 miles from the planet’s surface which offers an spectacular view of Ceres’ Haulani Crater. The stunning images released also show a bluish ejected material surrounding the craters.
Scientists also call it evidence of landslides which is vividly noticeable as is a central ridge and smooth material on the crater floor. An enhanced false-color view of it allows scientists to gain insight into Ceres and surface morphology.
What interests the scientists about Ceres is its crater's polygonal nature, means it resembles a shape made of straight lines while most craters seen on either earth or other planetary bodies are nearly circular.
NASA also describe Ceres’ 6-mile-wide Oxo Crater, which is the second-brightest feature on the dwarf planet, as a hidden treasure.
This dwarf planet lies between Mars and Jupiter and has an average diameter of 590 miles and is the largest body in the main asteroid belt. Ceres was initially classified as a planet, later an asteroid and finally labelled a dward planet in 2006.
