Ceres
Dwarf planet Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It was explored by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft.
Ceres Facts
Ceres is the only dwarf planet in the inner solar system.
Ceres was the first member of the asteroid belt to be discovered when Giuseppe Piazzi spotted it in 1801. Called an asteroid for many years, Ceres is so much bigger and so different from its rocky neighbors that scientists classified it as a dwarf planet in 2006. When NASA’s Dawn arrived in 2015, Ceres became the first dwarf planet to receive a visit from a spacecraft.
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Exploring Ceres
Ceres was the first dwarf planet to be orbited by a spacecraft.
NASA’s Dawn spacecraft reached Ceres in 2015 to study its surface, composition, and history. This was three years after Dawn had orbited the asteroid Vesta, the second-largest body in the asteroid belt, behind Ceres.
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Pluto and Dwarf Planet Resources
A curated collection of resources about dwarf planets, including activities that can be done at home, as well as videos and animations, images, printable graphics, and 3D models.
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