JUNE 9 (Reuters) — Footage of dwarf planet Ceres, compiled from a series of images taken by National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) Dawn spacecraft, was released on Monday (June 8).
The video animation shows dramatic flyover views of the heavily cratered planet. Combined from 80 images taken on Dawn, they were made at an altitude of 8,400 mile (13,600 kilometers), along with navigational images taken from 3,200 miles (5,100 kilometers) away.
NASA said the vertical dimension was exaggerated by a factor of two and a star field added in the background.
“We used a three-dimensional terrain model that we had produced based on the images acquired so far,” said Dawn team member Ralf Jaumann of the German Aerospace Center. “They will become increasingly detailed as the mission progresses, with each additional orbit bringing us closer to the surface.”
Dawn entered its second mapping orbit on June 3 and will spend the rest of the month observing the dwarf planet from 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers) above its surface, conducting intensive observations of Ceres.
Upon its arrival at Ceres on March 6, Dawn made history as the first mission to visit a dwarf planet to orbit two distinct extraterrestrial targets.
Dawn is part of the Discovery Program, managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
