article_snippet.sent: Nasa has released the first close-up views of the north pole of dwarf planet Ceres from The spacecraft.
article_snippet.sent: Nasa scientists in California California have released new images of Ceres (shown).
article_snippet.sent: The spacecraft is beginning to move closer and closer to Ceres.
article_snippet.sent: the images were taken on 10 April from a distance of 21,000 miles (33,000km), and are the highest-resolution views of Ceres so far.
article_snippet.sent: And The spacecraft will also see Ceres in better and a higher resolution.
article_snippet.sent: Ceres lies less than three times as far as Earth from the sun - close enough to feel the warmth of the star, allowing ice to melt and reform.
article_snippet.sent: Nasa's Dawn spacecraft has been making Nasa's Dawn spacecraft way to Ceres from the asteroid Vesta since September 2012.
article_snippet.sent: There is high interest in the mission because Ceres because Ceres is seen as being a record of the early solar system, and may also have shifting ice on Ceres surface.
article_snippet.sent: Ceres first ‘science orbit’ will begin on 23 April, with Nasa's Dawn spacecraft remaining a distance of 8,400 miles (13,500km) away until 9 May.
article_snippet.sent: After this, Ceres will begin making lower and lower orbits to get better views of the surface.
article_snippet.sent: Shown above is an animation of Ceres rotating as Dawn observed Ceres north pole.
article_snippet.sent: Ceres first ‘science orbit’ will begin on 23 April, with the spacecraft remaining a distance of 8,400 miles (13,500km) away until 9 May .
article_snippet.sent: This map-projected view of Ceres was created from images taken by Nasa's Dawn spacecraft during Ceres initial approach to the dwarf planet, prior to being captured into orbit in March 2015.
article_snippet.sent: Differences in morphology and color across the surface suggest Ceres was once an active body .
article_snippet.sent: These images, from Dawn's visible and infrared mapping spectrometer (VIR), highlight two regions on Ceres containing bright spots.
highlights_snippet.sent: Nasa scientists in California have released new images of Ceres .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: The spacecraft is beginning to move closer and closer to Ceres .
  