NASA released new photos from its Dawn mission that reveal amazing images of the bright material on dwarf planet Ceres. The spectacular views of the planet stem from the lowest-altitude mapping orbit yet - just 240 miles from the planet's surface.
The photos reveal the Haulani Crater, which possesses a diameter of 21 miles, and its unique characteristics that point to past landslides from its crater rim. In addition, the images show smooth material and a central ridge on its floor.
The unique, false-color view of the crater gives scientists insight into the materials that it is comprised of as well how these materials are connected to surface morphology. In particular, the images revealed ejected material of a bluish color, a color that seems to be associated with Ceres' younger features.
The Oxo Crater is most known for the large "slump" that exists in its rim that stems from a large amount of material that has dropped below its surface. The Dawn team is also focusing on analyzing the signatures of the minerals on Oxo's floor, which appear to be different from other crater floors on Ceres.
"Little Oxo may be poised to make a big contribution to understanding the upper crust of Ceres," said Chris Russell, principal investigator of the mission, which is located at the University of California, Los Angeles.
NASA's Dawn mission launched in 2007 and began with an investigation of the protoplanet Vesta before it made its way to Ceres.
