Planetary Society logo
  • “Exploration is in our nature.” - Carl Sagan

Pair of craters on Ceres

Pair of craters on Ceres
Pair of craters on Ceres Dawn observed this pair of craters on January 25 from an altitude of 240 miles (385 kilometers). The upper crater is the younger of the two, as indicated by its sharper features, which have not been eroded as much by the gradual but persistent rain of interplanetary debris falling on Ceres. (In May we discussed how scientists quantify the ages, although the dates these craters formed have not yet been computed.) The wall where the craters meet has partially collapsed into the older one. Full image and caption. NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA