Dawn Gives a Myriad of Vesta Photos

Dawn is starting to approach Vesta for its four intensive-scientific orbits that are to come. Starting August 11, Dawn will start its orbits at a distance of 2,700 kilometers (1,700 miles) away from the asteroid, which can be viewed easily in the night sky. NASA writes that "Vesta is the brightest object in the asteroid belt as seen from Earth and is thought to be the source of a large number of meteorites that fall to Earth." This image below was taken at the distance of 5,000 kilometers (3,200 miles) away and shows incredible detail of the protoplanet.It was taken on July 24, 2011.

From a few team members: "Now that we are in orbit around one of the last unexplored worlds in the inner solar system, we can see that it's a unique and fascinating place," said Marc Rayman, Dawn's chief engineer and mission manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "We have been calling Vesta the smallest terrestrial planet," said Chris Russell, Dawn's principal investigator at UCLA. "The latest imagery provides much justification for our expectations. They show that a variety of processes were once at work on the surface of Vesta and provide extensive evidence for Vesta's planetary aspirations."

Estimated at around 9:47 PDT (12:47 EDT), Dawn technically 'entered' Vesta's orbit. Although this is an estimated guess, so far this is the generally accepted time. But, as Dawn entered that orbit, it brought back some pretty amazing photos, which are shared here.

Close-up of Vesta's "snowman" craters, named by the Dawn camera team members!

Close-up of Vesta's south-pole regions

Craters in the south-equatorial region

"The new observations of Vesta are an inspirational reminder of the wonders unveiled through ongoing exploration of our solar system," said Jim Green, planetary division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Before Dawn reached Vesta, all we could see was a spot of blur in the night sky, even by the Hubble Telescope. Now, with Dawn we see incredible detail. (Below is an image of Vesta before Dawn arrived). So, this goes the same for Pluto and other Kuiper-Belt Objects. When New Horizons reaches Pluto (etc), Pluto will no more be a blur in the night sky as well!

Vesta in 2007; credit Hubble.

Dawn and Vesta Now to Unite July 15

After predicting the NASA spacecraft Dawn to reach asteroid 4 Vesta on July 16, NASA realized that Dawn will reach its destination earlier than before, (just by a matter of time zones and location). After being launched in September of 2007, NASA has waited almost four years for their beloved spacecraft to reach this forbid world, for the sole purpose of investigating the earliest part of the solar-system's history.

Dawn's purpose is described more in our May article entitled 'Dawn Presents its First Pictures on Approach to Asteroid 4 Vesta,' but in summary, Dawn is supposed to study this space rock in order to accumulate more information on the earliest stages of our solar system, which is the asteroid belt. Vesta is a protoplanet; or a planet which is a minor planet: one that could have been one, but is just too small. On July 9, Dawn took this photo of Vesta. Although the picture was on NASA's site, each picture there is supposed to represent 2.4 miles, or 3.8 kilometers.

According to those at NASA, Dawn is supposed to enter orbit around 1 am EDT Saturday morning, here on the east coast. It was moved to the 15, just for the Pacific coast, etc. "When Vesta captures Dawn into its orbit, engineers estimate there will be approximately 9,900 miles (16,000 kilometers) between them. At that point, the spacecraft and asteroid will be approximately 117 million miles (188 million kilometers) from Earth," NASA's statistics reflect.

"It has taken nearly four years to get to this point," said Robert Mase, Dawn project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "Our latest tests and check-outs show that Dawn is right on target and performing normally." The Dawn team will calculate the exact time of orbit as the craft gets closer, but as of now, Dawn is almost there!

"Launched in September 2007, Dawn will depart for its second destination, the dwarf planet Ceres, in July 2012. The spacecraft will be the first to orbit two bodies in our solar system," Jet-Propulsion Laboratory (NASA) closes. Celebrate as Dawn enters Vesta's orbit, whether it be the 15 or 16 of July! Dawn has come a long way! Go Dawn!

Neptune's First Orbit: Anniversary Pictures by Hubble

Yesterday, Neptune returned to where it was discovered over 165 years ago. Neptune is finally the last major planet (which does not include any minor planet or dwarf, like Pluto) that has returned to its orbit since it was discovered, and Hubble wanted to commemorate the event by taking four photos of the icy, aqua world.

The four images you see above were taken by the wide-field camera 3 on June 25-26 during Neptune's sixteen hour rotation. Each snapshot was taken at every four hours, giving the full view of the planet. "The images reveal high-altitude clouds in the northern and southern hemispheres. The clouds are composed of methane ice crystals," informs ScienceDaily.

To read more about Neptune's first orbit, check out our other post.

Neptune's First Orbit: 09/24/1846 - 07/12/2011

On September 23/24 1846, the planet Neptune was discovered in the sky near Aquarius and Capricornus. Tonight (July 12), it will be viewed in the exact location. Why the significance? Neptune has completed one full orbit around the Sun since it was discovered: (approximately) 165 years ago (exactly 164.79 days).

At exactly 22:27 UT (6:27 pm EDT), Neptune will reach this point, if you can see it! To find how to compute UT to EDT (Eastern Daylight-Savings Time), CDT, MDT, PDT, or any other location worldwide, use this site. Although this site is mainly for the US, it's principles are world-wide used.

To find Neptune, you can use Sky&Telescope's planet-find chart. The third picture down show's Neptune's passing in 2011 along with Uranus'. This document is detailed. Neptune is the only planet you can't see with your eyes - miribile dictu! - on very clear nights can you pull of Uranus.

This is where Neptune was originally viewed when it was first seen in 1846. Credit: Astronomy.com

EarthSky gives you a kind-of-better viewing chart for Neptune's anniversary.

So, as you go on with your life, remember to wish Neptune a happy birthday! Neptune won't return to this spot until (approximately) 2175 AD!