Ceres (dwarf planet) Facts for Kids

Ceres, also known as 1 Ceres, is a dwarf planet in the Solar System. It is located in the middle main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

Ceres was discovered on 1 January 1801, by Giuseppe Piazzi, and is named after the Roman goddess Ceres, as the goddess of growing plants, the harvest, and of motherly love. After about 200 years from its discovery, the International Astronomical Union decided to upgrade Ceres from an asteroid (or minor planet) to dwarf planetary status in 2006.

With a diameter of about 950 km, Ceres is by far the largest and most massive object in the asteroid belt, and has about a third of the belt's total mass. It was once thought to be smaller than Vesta, which is brighter.

Ceres's small size means that even at its brightest, it is too dim to be seen by the naked eye, except under extremely dark skies. As a result, its surface features are barely visible even with the most powerful telescopes, and little was known about it until the robotic NASA spacecraft Dawn approached Ceres for its orbital mission in 2015.

Hydrogen concentration (blue) in the upper metre of the regolith indicating presence of water ice

Dawn found Ceres's surface to be a mixture of water ice and hydrated minerals such as carbonates and clay. Gravity data suggest Ceres to be partially differentiated into a muddy (ice-rock) mantle/core and a less dense but stronger crust that is at most thirty percent ice by volume. Although Ceres likely lacks an internal ocean of liquid water, brines still flow through the outer mantle and reach the surface, allowing cryovolcanoes such as Ahuna Mons to form roughly every fifty million years.

Ceres has an unusual crater, Occator which contains bright salts.

Orbit
Geology
Surface
- Craters
Atmosphere
Origin and evolution
Habitability
Related pages
Images for kids
See also

Orbit

Ceres follows an orbit between Mars and Jupiter, near the middle of the asteroid belt, with an orbital period (year) of 4.6 Earth years. Compared to other planets and dwarf planets, Ceres's orbit is moderately tilted relative to that of Earth.

Geology

Ceres is the largest asteroid in the main asteroid belt. Measurements from the Dawn spacecraft found a mean diameter of 939.4 km (583.7 mi) and a mass of 9.38×10²⁰ kg. This gives Ceres a density of 2.16 g/cm³, suggesting that a quarter of its mass is water ice.

Ceres comprises 40% of the estimated (2394±5)×10¹⁸ kg mass of the asteroid belt, and it has ³⁄₁ times the mass of the next asteroid, Vesta, but it is only 1.3% the mass of the Moon.

Surface

Studies using the Hubble Space Telescope show graphite, sulfur, and sulfur dioxide on Ceres's surface.

Craters

Dawn revealed that Ceres has a heavily cratered surface, though with fewer large craters than expected.

Ceres's north polar region shows far more cratering than the equatorial region.

Atmosphere

In 2017, Dawn confirmed that Ceres has a transient atmosphere of water vapour.

Origin and evolution

Ceres is a surviving protoplanet that formed 4.56 billion years ago; alongside Pallas and Vesta, one of only three remaining in the inner Solar System, with the rest either merging to form terrestrial planets, being shattered in collisions or being ejected by Jupiter.

Habitability

Although Ceres is not as actively discussed as a potential home for microbial extraterrestrial life as Mars, Europa, Enceladus, or Titan are, it has the most water of any body in the inner Solar System after Earth, and the likely brine pockets under its surface could provide habitats for life.

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, discoverer of Ceres
Orbits of Ceres (red, inclined) along with Jupiter and the inner planets (white and gray). The upper diagram shows Ceres's orbit from top down. The bottom diagram is a side view showing Ceres's orbital inclination to the ecliptic. Lighter shades indicate above the ecliptic; darker indicate below.
Topographic map of Ceres. The lowest crater floors (indigo), and the highest peaks (white) represent a difference of 15 km (10 mi) elevation. "Ysolo Mons" has been renamed "Yamor Mons."
An enhanced Hubble image of Ceres, the best acquired from Earth, taken in 2004
Artist's conception of Dawn spacecraft
Animation of Dawn's trajectory around Ceres from 1 February 2015 to 1 February 2025 Dawn · Ceres
Incomplete map of Ceres in true color (Elliptical; HAMO; March 2016)
Black-and-white photographic map of Ceres, centered on 180° longitude, with official nomenclature (September 2017)
Ceres, polar regions (November 2015): North (left); south (right). The south pole is in shadow. "Ysolo Mons" has since been renamed "Yamor Mons."

Ceres (dwarf planet) facts for kids

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