Rocky, planet-sized bodies in the solar system have undergone large-scale differentiation into three major parts: metallic cores, dense silicate mantles, and less-dense silicate crusts. For terrestrial planets such as Earth, […]
Previous age-dating evidence from Earth and lunar samples and the interpreted age of craters on the Moon suggest that the inner solar system experienced a period of intense meteorite impacts […]
Asteroid 4 Vesta is large enough to have a core-mantle-crust structure similar to Earth. However, this protoplanet did not experience plate tectonics and recycling of its crustal material, which means […]
Weathering processes in space are very different from weathering processes on Earth. Instead of being driven by forces such as wind, water, and oxidation, space weathering is driven by ion […]
The asteroid 4 Vesta is the second largest body in the asteroid belt and was visited by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft from 2011 to 2012. New observations recently published in the […]
We encourage abstract submissions related to geologic, spectroscopic, compositional and geophysical analyses of Ceres and Vesta. Possible topics include analyses of Dawn data, telescopic observations, analytical interior modeling, and numerical […]
There will be a session on the largest two planetary bodies within the main asteroid belt at this year’s AGU Fall Meeting, 14-18 December 2015. Though the session is focussed on […]
The Planetary Data System is inviting reviewers for the Dawn Framing Camera mosaics of Vesta. The data set includes Vesta global clear and color mosaics derived from images acquired by the Framing […]
Protoplanet Vesta, visited by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft from 2011 to 2013, was once thought to be completely dry, incapable of retaining water because of the low temperatures and pressures at […]
A new image from NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is the first ever from the surface of Mars to show an asteroid, and it shows two: Ceres and Vesta. These two […]
Some beauty is revealed only at a second glance. When viewed with the human eye, the giant asteroid Vesta, which was the object of scrutiny by the Dawn spacecraft from […]
Deep in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, Dawn is continuing its smooth, silent flight toward dwarf planet Ceres. Far behind it now is the giant protoplanet Vesta, […]
The Planetary Data System (PDS) is pleased to announce the release of the Dawn Framing Camera L1a (raw) and L1b (calibrated) data for all Vesta phases. The Dawn spacecraft visited the asteroid 4 […]
First Announcement Available Now The workshop on Vesta in the Light of Dawn: First Exploration of a Protoplanet in the Asteroid Belt will be held February 3–5, 2014, at the Lunar […]
The May 2013 issue of the Discovery and New Frontiers News is on the Discovery Program website. In this issue: What caused the uneven gravity on the Moon, a mystery since […]