News Archive / Tagged: Occator Crater

• Remnants of ancient subsurface ocean observed on Ceres

  Laurel KornfeldOctober 5th, 2020

  The bright spots in Ceres’s Occator Crater, which mystified scientists when first observed by the Dawn spacecraft in 2015, indicate the dwarf planet may harbor remnants of what was once a global subsurface ocean.

• Dawn spacecraft captures new images of Ceres’ Occator Crater

  Jason RhianJuly 4th, 2018

  NASA's Dawn spacecraft has entered into its final planned orbital position from which it will study the dwarf planet Ceres, the lowest the probe has descended to the tiny world since it arrived in orbit on March 6, 2015.

• NASA’s Dawn spacecraft experiences reaction wheel malfunction

  Jim SharkeyApril 28th, 2017

  During preparations for observing Ceres' Occator Crater, NASA's Dawn spacecraft's remaining reaction wheels stopped functioning. The probe controls its orientation in space by changing the speed these gyroscope-like devices spin.

• Ceres’ bright spots significantly younger than crater they inhabit

  Laurel KornfeldMarch 9th, 2017

  Researchers who studied images of Ceres' Occator Crater captured by the Dawn spacecraft's scientific imaging system have determined that its bright spots, composed largely of carbonate salts, are significantly younger than the crater in which they sit.