Researchers report on findings from Dawn space mission

In 2015 the Dawn spacecraft reached the asteroid Ceres, the largest celestial body in the so-called asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The data collected by Dawn will make it possible for scientists to analyse the geological properties of Ceres and understand its origins. The latest issue of the "Science" journal contains reports by several international teams of researchers on their findings. For the first time, they are able to provide a comprehensive description of the asteroid. One of the studies was carried out by a team headed by Prof. Harald Hiesinger from the Institute of Planetology at Münster University. The scientists involved examined the crater structures on the asteroid's surface. One of the things the researchers demonstrated was that the asteroid's surface is marked by numerous impact craters of various shapes and sizes - a result of collisions with other celestial bodies.