Skip to content
Vatican Observatory
  • About
    • Overview
    • Team
    • FAQ
  • Telescopes
    • Overview
    • Telescope Images
  • Latest
    • Overview
    • Resources
    • Press
    • Audio
    • Video
    • Research
    • Authors
      • FAQs
    • Newsletter
    • Tucson Meteor Cameras
  • Podcast
  • Education
    • Overview
    • Resource Center
    • Image Gallery
    • Summer School
    • Books
    • Software
    • Additional Resources
    • ACME
    • Ambassadors
  • Shop
  • Calendar
  • Support
    • Overview
    • Donate Now
    • Smart Ways to Give
    • Sacred Space Astronomy
      • View Content
    • Fr. Coyne Fundraiser
    • Bequests / Trusts
    • The Foundation
      • Newsletters
      • Annual Reports
  • Press
  • Specola Vaticana
  • Contact
    • Contact
  • About
    • Overview
    • Team
    • FAQ
  • Telescopes
    • Overview
    • Telescope Images
  • Latest
    • Overview
    • Resources
    • Press
    • Audio
    • Video
    • Research
    • Authors
      • FAQs
    • Newsletter
    • Tucson Meteor Cameras
  • Podcast
  • Education
    • Overview
    • Resource Center
    • Image Gallery
    • Summer School
    • Books
    • Software
    • Additional Resources
    • ACME
    • Ambassadors
  • Shop
  • Calendar
  • Support
    • Overview
    • Donate Now
    • Smart Ways to Give
    • Sacred Space Astronomy
      • View Content
    • Fr. Coyne Fundraiser
    • Bequests / Trusts
    • The Foundation
      • Newsletters
      • Annual Reports
  • Press
  • Specola Vaticana
  • Contact
    • Contact

Ceres from Dawn’s RC3 Orbit

By Robert Trembley  |  29 Apr 2015

Share:
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share via Email

This entry is part 19 of 27 in the series The Dawn Misson to the Asteroid Belt

Ceres from the Dawn spacecraft, April 24-26, 2015, from a distance of 13,500 kilometers (8,500 miles). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA

The Dawn Spacecraft has entered into its “RC3” orbit around dwarf planet Ceres – RC short for “rotation characterization.”

Happy Wednesday! I’m traveling around #Ceres at 150 miles per hour (240 kilometers per hour), relative to the dwarf planet

— NASA’s Dawn Mission (@NASA_Dawn) April 29, 2015

The spacecraft will remain at a distance of 13,500 km (8,400 mi) from Ceres, then spiral down to “survey orbit,” about 4,400 km (2,700 mi) above the surface in June.

RC3 to survey: Dawn will make five spiral loops during the month it will take to fly from its RC3 orbit (at 8,400 miles, or 13,500 kilometers) to survey orbit (at 4,400 km, or 2,700 mi). Image credit: NASA/JPL

From the Dawn blog:

“For three days in RC3 after passing over the south pole, [Dawn] will take many pictures [in] visible and infrared spectra as it watches the slowly shrinking illuminated crescent and the space over it. When the spacecraft has flown to about 29 degrees south latitude over the night side, it will no longer be safe to aim its sensitive instruments in that direction, because they would be too close to the sun. With its memory full of data, Dawn will turn to point its main antenna toward distant Earth. It will take almost two days to radio its findings to NASA’s Deep Space Network. Meanwhile, the spacecraft will continue northward, gliding silently high over the dark surface.

On April 28, [Dawn] will rotate again to aim its sensors at Ceres and the space above it, resuming measurements when it is about 21 degrees north of the equator and continuing almost to the north pole on May 1. By the time it turns once again to beam its data to Earth, it will have completed a wealth of measurements not even considered when the mission was being designed.”

Get out your Red/Blue glasses! This anaglyph of Ceres is part of a sequence of images taken by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft April 24-26, 2015, from a distance of 13,500 km (8,500 mi). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA/PSI

More: Marc Rayman’s Dawn Blog

Share:
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share via Email

Sacred Space Astronomy

The Vatican Observatory’s official digital community and online magazine.

Become a Member

Recent Posts

In Pursuit of Dots

6 Jun 2023  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

One Fine Vatican Alt-Az Refractor

By Mr. Christopher Graney  |  3 Jun 2023  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

EWTN News Nightly | Thursday, June 1, 2023

YouTube  |  2 Jun 2023  |  Press

The Scientific Books and Astronomical Inventions of the Jesuit Astronomer Dr. Emmanuel Carreira Vérez S.J.

SciEngine  |  31 May 2023  |  Press

Archives

      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • August
      • June
      • March
      • January
      • November
      • October
      • December
      • November
      • April
      • May
      • January
      • December
      • September
      • May
      • March
      • December
      • November
      • February

More Posts in this Series:
"The Dawn Misson to the Asteroid Belt"

78  |  What Do We Lose When We Sacrifice Science?

By Br. Guy Consolmagno  |  27 May 2021  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

69  |  To err is human… to admit it, is science

By Br. Guy Consolmagno  |  25 Mar 2021  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

18  |  Pickled Ceres

By Robert Trembley  |  15 Dec 2015

20  |  Dawn Mission High Altitude Mapping Orbit Complete

By Robert Trembley  |  22 Oct 2015

21  |  Just a Sliver of Ceres

By Robert Trembley  |  11 Apr 2015

Newsletter

Upcoming astronomical events, scientific breakthroughs, philosophical reflections… just a few reasons to subscribe to our newsletter!

Vatican Observatory
  • About
  • Telescopes
  • Latest
  • Podcast
  • Education
  • Shop
  • Calendar
  • Support
  • Press
  • Specola Vaticana
  • Contact
Privacy Policy  |   Cookie Policy  |   Disclosure Statement

Podcast:

  • Apple Podcasts Listen onApple Podcasts
  • Spotify Listen onSpotify
  • Google Podcasts Listen onGoogle Podcasts
  • Stitcher Listen onStitcher
  • Amazon Alexa Listen onAmazon Alexa
  • TuneIn Listen onTuneIn
Made by Longbeard