Dawn's first orbit, including RC3, March 6, 2015- June 15, 2015 |
Dawn's first orbit, including RC3, March 6, 2015- June 15, 2015 |
Mar 6 2015, 03:23 PM
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#1
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Member Group: Members Posts: 204 Joined: 14-April 06 From: Seattle, WA Member No.: 745 |
Dawn is now officially in orbit around (1) Ceres!
Congratulations, NASA. Nice images of crescent Ceres. NASA Spacecraft Becomes First to Orbit a Dwarf Planet |
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May 8 2015, 11:06 PM
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#2
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Member Group: Members Posts: 714 Joined: 3-January 08 Member No.: 3995 |
A thought....
There appears to be a number of broad depressions with soft edges scattered all over the surface that remind me of grabens. For a lack of a better term, I've nicknamed them 'soap dishes'. A few of these are contained within large craters and basins, possibly with associated 'mounds' (horsts?). Having said that.... In the latest image, a crater with a bright wall appears to be on or near the rim of one of these 'soap dishes' (in the large crater on the left). Is this association coincidence, or could this be a clue to whatever processes produced the bright areas here and elsewhere? If these 'soap dishes' are grabens, the long rim of one would mark a fault in the crust. Such a fault (fracture zone) could potentially serve as a conduit for material rising from below at any time, even if the graben itself is extremely ancient. The material movement likely would have happened in the distant past as well, though. |
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Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 5th June 2024 - 03:38 AM |
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