Ceres (dwarf planet) Facts for Kids

Ceres, also known as 1 Ceres, is a dwarf planet in our Solar System. It is found in the main asteroid belt, which is a busy area between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

Ceres was first discovered on January 1, 1801, by Giuseppe Piazzi. It was named after Ceres, the Roman goddess of growing plants, the harvest, and motherly love. For about 200 years, Ceres was called an asteroid. But in 2006, the International Astronomical Union decided to give it a new title: dwarf planet.

Ceres is the biggest and heaviest object in the asteroid belt. It is about 950 kilometers (590 miles) wide. It holds about one-third of the total mass of the entire asteroid belt. It was once thought to be smaller than Vesta, another large asteroid, because Vesta looks brighter from Earth.

Ceres is too dim to see without a telescope, even on a very dark night. Its surface features were a mystery until the NASA spacecraft Dawn arrived in 2015.

Hydrogen concentration (blue) in the upper meter of the surface, showing where water ice might be.

The Dawn spacecraft found that Ceres's surface is a mix of water ice and minerals that contain water, like carbonates and clay. Data from Dawn suggests that Ceres has layers, like an onion. It might have a muddy core and a crust that is up to 30% ice. Even though Ceres probably does not have a large ocean of liquid water inside, salty water (brine) can still flow up to the surface. This creates cryovolcanoes, like Ahuna Mons, which are volcanoes that erupt icy slush instead of lava.

Ceres has an unusual crater called Occator. This crater contains very bright spots, which are made of salts.

Exploring Ceres: The Dawn Mission
Ceres's Journey Around the Sun
What is Ceres Made Of?
The Surface of Ceres
Ceres's Thin Atmosphere
How Ceres Formed
Could Life Exist on Ceres?
Related Pages
Images for kids
See also

Exploring Ceres: The Dawn Mission

The Dawn spacecraft was a robotic mission from NASA. It was launched to study Vesta and Ceres, two of the largest objects in the asteroid belt. Dawn orbited Ceres from 2015 to 2018, sending back amazing pictures and data. This mission helped scientists learn a lot about Ceres's surface, its inside, and its history.

Ceres's Journey Around the Sun

Ceres travels in an orbit between Mars and Jupiter. It is located in the middle of the asteroid belt. One year on Ceres is about 4.6 Earth years long. Compared to Earth, Ceres's orbit is tilted a bit more.

What is Ceres Made Of?

Ceres is the largest object in the main asteroid belt. Measurements from the Dawn spacecraft show it has a diameter of about 939.4 kilometers (583.7 miles). Its mass is about 9.38 x 10²⁰ kilograms.

Ceres has a density of about 2.16 grams per cubic centimeter. This density suggests that about a quarter of Ceres's mass is water ice. Ceres makes up 40% of the total mass of the asteroid belt. It is also 3.5 times heavier than Vesta, the next largest asteroid. However, Ceres is still only about 1.3% the mass of Earth's Moon.

The Surface of Ceres

The Dawn mission showed that Ceres has a surface covered in many craters. However, it has fewer very large craters than scientists expected. The northern part of Ceres has many more craters than its middle (equatorial) region.

Studies using the Hubble Space Telescope have also found substances like graphite, sulfur, and sulfur dioxide on Ceres's surface.

Ceres's Thin Atmosphere

In 2017, the Dawn spacecraft confirmed that Ceres has a very thin, temporary atmosphere. This atmosphere is made of water vapor. It forms when ice on the surface turns directly into gas.

How Ceres Formed

Ceres is a surviving protoplanet. Protoplanets are early versions of planets that formed about 4.56 billion years ago. Most protoplanets either joined together to form bigger planets (like Earth) or were thrown out of the Solar System by Jupiter. Ceres, along with Pallas and Vesta, are three of the few protoplanets that are still around in the inner Solar System.

Could Life Exist on Ceres?

Scientists are always looking for places where life might exist beyond Earth. While Ceres is not as often discussed as Mars, Europa, Enceladus, or Titan, it is still interesting. Ceres has more water than any other body in the inner Solar System, besides Earth. The salty water pockets (brines) that might be under its surface could possibly provide places for tiny living things (microbes) to survive.

The Solar System

Sun • Heliosphere	Planets ☾ = moon(s) ∅ = rings		Mercury	Venus	Earth ☾	Mars ☾

			Jupiter ☾ ∅	Saturn ☾ ∅	Uranus ☾ ∅	Neptune ☾ ∅

	Dwarf planets		Ceres	Pluto ☾	Haumea ☾	Makemake

			Eris ☾

	Small Solar System bodies	Asteroids (minor planets)	Groups and families: Vulcanoids · Near-Earth asteroids · Asteroid belt Jupiter Trojans · Centaurs · Neptune Trojans · Asteroid moons · Meteoroids · Pallas · Juno · Vesta · Hygiea · Interamnia · Europa
		Asteroids (minor planets)	See also the list of asteroids.

		Trans- Neptunians	Kuiper belt – Plutinos: Orcus · Ixion – Cubewanos: Varuna · Quaoar · Huya
		Trans- Neptunians	Scattered disc: Sedna

		Comets	Periodic comets and non-periodic comets Damocloids · Oort cloud
See also the list of solar system objects

Images for kids

Giuseppe Piazzi, who discovered Ceres.
Orbits of Ceres (red) along with Jupiter and the inner planets. The top shows Ceres's orbit from above. The bottom shows a side view, showing how Ceres's orbit is tilted.
A map of Ceres's surface, showing its mountains and valleys. The lowest parts are indigo, and the highest peaks are white.
A clear image of Ceres taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2004.
An artist's drawing of the Dawn spacecraft.
Animation of Dawn's path around Ceres from 2015 to 2025.
An incomplete map of Ceres in true color.
A black-and-white map of Ceres with the names of its craters.
Ceres's polar regions. North is on the left, and south is on the right.