Dwarf planet Ceres' bright spots shrink but stay strange on approach

cnet.com ^ | Erik Mack

[sten]

that probe has 1 mission... get out there, take clear pics of interesting things, and send it back

transmission distance is irrelevant.

[cripplecreek]

[dr_lew]

That's a hot link to the JPL DAWN site, which I have been following assiduously. Assiduously, I say. I invite anyone to go check it out

[cripplecreek]

And anyone can download the http://eyes.nasa.gov/download.html

I’ve also been following it daily since its approach to Vesta.

[dr_lew]

The JPL DAWN site goes hour by hour, with 4 to 6 updates per day all time stamped with the MYSTIC simulator. This is the official mission site run by JPL. The EYES ON site is a comprehensive overview of some kind, and when I went to it, it invited me to do some downloads. No thanks, I'll stick with the JPL DAWN site, upon which I have relied.

[cripplecreek]

Whatever.

Obviously you’re a very important person. LOL

[cuban leaf]

I’m curious if the camera and length of exposure is making these spots look brighter than they really are.

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Good point. We assume that the rest of the rock is the same color as the moon. What if it’s significantly darker and this is brightened up to make it look much lighter, making the lighter part look almost dayglow white.