New names and insights about Ceres
New names and insights about Ceres
Jul 28, 2015
by Deborah Byrd in Blogs » Science Wire, Space
The Dawn spacecraft is now moving to its third mapping orbit. Nothing new on the bright spots yet, but the crater that contains them has a new name: Occator.
NASA’s Dawn mission to Ceres today (July 28, 2015) released some colorful new maps of the dwarf planet, showcasing a diverse topography, with height differences between crater bottoms and mountain peaks as great as 9 miles (15 km). Dawn is now making its way to its third mapping orbit, and results are coming out of the mission, but still no confirmation on the mysterious bright spots on Ceres. More about that below.
Some of these craters and other features do now have official names, inspired by spirits and deities relating to agriculture from a variety of cultures. The International Astronomical Union recently approved a batch of names for features on Ceres.
The newly labeled features include Occator, the mysterious crater containing Ceres’ brightest spots, which has a diameter of about 60 miles (90 kilometers) and a depth of about 2 miles (4 kilometers).
Occator is the name of the Roman agriculture deity of harrowing, a method of leveling soil.
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One of the bright spots – the spot formerly known as Spot 1 – is now identified as Haulani, after the Hawaiian plant goddess.
More, incld video of bright spots
http://earthsky.org/space/new-names-and-insights-about-ceres?utm_source=EarthSky+News&utm_campaign=4f3f16b1e1-EarthSky_News&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c643945d79-4f3f16b1e1-393525109
