Object Analysis

Ceres (1 Ceres) is the largest object in the main asteroid belt that lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. It is the only dwarf planet located in the inner solar system. With a diameter of approximately 940 km, Ceres comprises about a third of the total mass of the entire asteroid belt.

Discovered in 1801 by Giuseppe Piazzi, it was originally classified as a planet, then demoted to asteroid, and finally reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006. Unlike most asteroids, which are irregularly shaped rubble piles, Ceres is spherical, meaning it has enough gravity to pull itself into hydrostatic equilibrium.

NASA's Dawn mission, which orbited Ceres from 2015 to 2018, revealed a cratered surface with mysterious bright spots. These spots, located in Occator Crater, were determined to be deposits of sodium carbonate—essentially salt left behind by briny water sublimating from below the surface, hinting at a subsurface ocean.