Dawn Closer To Ceres But NASA Yet To Unravel Spots Mystery

Dawn has seen Ceres from closer than ever before but has offered no clues about the mysterious bright spots.

The spots were first seen when Ceres neared the dwarf planet in March. While astronomers guessed it could be ice caps reflecting sunlight, they were hoping clues would emerge as the spacecraft neared the planet. Dawn's latest images of Ceres were taken from 3,200 miles on May 23.

"After transmitting these images to Earth on May 23, Dawn resumed ion-thrusting toward its second mapping orbit. On June 3, Dawn will enter this orbit and spend the rest of the month observing Ceres from 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers) above the surface. Each orbit during this time will be about three days, allowing the spacecraft to conduct an intensive study of Ceres," NASA said in a press release.

In its mapping orbit, Dawn hopes to get a closer view of bright spots. While the spacecraft strives to learn more about the spots, NASA has asked stargazers to vote on what is causing the bright spots.

Dawn is the only spacecraft to have visited two celestial bodies and the first to visit a dwarf planet. While the bright spots are center of attraction for scientists, the probe will also glean information on planet formation as dwarf planets do not change since formation.