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Ceres' shape is controlled mainly by gravity and spin, with only a 3% departure from hydrostatic equilibrium. Its best-fit shape is a triaxial ellipsoid with dimensions a = 483.1 km, b = 481.0, km and c = 445.9 km, with c being the north-south axis and a and b the semimajor and semiminor equatorial axes.
The geology of the dwarf planet, Ceres, was largely unknown until Dawn spacecraft explored it in early 2015. However, certain surface features such as "Piazzi", named after the dwarf planets' discoverer, had been resolved.[a] Ceres's oblateness is consistent with a differentiated body, a rocky core overlain with an icy mantle.
Ceres is saturated with impact craters.Many have a central pit or bright spot. In the first batch of 17 names approved by the IAU, craters north of 20° north latitude had names beginning with A–G (with Asari being the furthest north), those between 20° north and south latitude beginning with H–R, and those further south beginning with S–Z (with Zadeni being the furthest south).
Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, is an "ocean world" with a big reservoir of salty water under its frigid surface, scientists said in findings that raise ...
The asteroid Ceres, once thought to be just a large rock orbiting between Mars and Jupiter, has slushy volcanoes and liquid saltwater beneath its surface that may have formed an underground ocean ...
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The active geology of Ceres is driven by ice and brines. Water leached from rock is estimated to possess a salinity of around 5%. Altogether, Ceres is approximately 50% water by volume (compared to 0.1% for Earth) and 73% rock by mass. [14] Ceres's largest craters are several kilometres deep, inconsistent with an ice-rich shallow subsurface.
The water escaped into space and now, only the salt remains." [ 18 ] A haze that fills around half of Occator crater and that does not extend over its rim [ 19 ] periodically appears around Spot 5, the best known bright spot, adding credence to the idea that some sort of outgassing or volcanism is occurring.