Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Ceres (minor-planet designation: 1 Ceres) is a dwarf planet in the middle main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. It was the first known asteroid , discovered on 1 January 1801 by Giuseppe Piazzi at Palermo Astronomical Observatory in Sicily , and announced as a new planet .
This asteroid belt is also called the main asteroid belt or main belt to distinguish it from other asteroid populations in the Solar System. [1] The asteroid belt is the smallest and innermost known circumstellar disc in the Solar System. Classes of small Solar System bodies in other regions are the near-Earth objects, the centaurs, the Kuiper ...
Ceres has spectral similarities to C-type asteroids, [3] which are rich in volatiles and carbonaceous compounds. Ceres is also sometimes classified as a G-type asteroid, [11] [12] which is a subtype of the Tholen C-class and characterized by abundant phyllosilicates, such as clay minerals. Ceres is not associated with any asteroid family or ...
For premium support please call: 800-290-4726 more ways to reach us
Occator / ɒ ˈ k eɪ t ər / is an impact crater located on Ceres, the largest object in the main asteroid belt that lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, that contains "Spot 5", the brightest of the bright spots observed by the Dawn spacecraft. It was known as "Region A" in ground-based images taken by the W. M. Keck Observatory on ...
Space probe broke orbit on 5 September 2012 and headed to Ceres; first "big four" asteroid visited by a spacecraft, largest asteroid visited by a spacecraft at the time. 4179 Toutatis: 2.45: 1934 Chang'e 2: 2012 3.2 0.70 Flyby; [1] closest asteroid flyby, first asteroid visited by a Chinese probe. 1 Ceres: 939.4 1801 Dawn: 2015–2018: 35 0.07
Called a "mini-moon" of sorts by some, it temporarily entered Earth's orbit on Sept. 29 from the Arjuna asteroid belt, which follows a similar orbital path around the sun as the Earth.
The asteroid and comet belts orbit the Sun from the inner rocky planets into outer parts of the Solar System, interstellar space. [ 16 ] [ 17 ] [ 18 ] An astronomical unit , or AU, is the distance from Earth to the Sun, which is approximately 150 billion meters (93 million miles). [ 19 ]