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back to article DWARF PLANET Ceres beams back SUNNY north pole FROWN

In the build up to NASA's first science orbit of dwarf planet Ceres later this month, the agency's spacecraft Dawn has been capturing stunning images of the extraterrestrial body. Astroboffins have released an impressive animation of Ceres, after it was snapped from a distance of 21,000 (33,000 kilometres) on 10 April. NASA …

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  1. x 7

    the positioning of that bright spot makes it look like a central umblilicus .........or a doorway to the interior. Whats behind the doorway?

    0 1 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
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      Anonymous Coward

      Clangers.

      22 1 Reply
    2. Mark 85
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      Depends... there's ten lights and ten doorways. Choose wisely.

      3 0 Reply
    3. ecofeco Silver badge
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      Stargate.

      0 0 Reply
      1. Anonymous Coward
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        Anonymous Coward

        Just another mysteriously powerful device from a long-dead interstellar civilization with a sign saying something along the lines of "Don't push this button, faggot!!" in some undecipherable language.

        We then push this button.

        2 0 Reply
    4. Doctor Syntax Silver badge
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      The last person to leave forgot to turn off the lights.

      1 0 Reply
      1. Anonymous Coward
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        Anonymous Coward

        Right about being careful about the 10 doors...

        Chances are there is a tiger behind one of them, and he's pretty famished by now.

        0 0 Reply
      2. Little Mouse
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        "The last person to leave"...

        Who says they left?

        2 0 Reply
        1. tony2heads
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          @Little Mouse

          they are just having a nap; "In his house at R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.”

          1 0 Reply
  2. frank ly

    Technical Details

    Is that picture taken under available sunlight, passive IR, some composite of wavelengths? Are the spots 'bright' because they're whiter or hotter or what?

    1 0 Reply
    1. Little Mouse
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      Re: Technical Details

      And how bright is "bright" in absolute terms?

      It's all relative. Maybe the rest of Ceres is just really, really dull(!)

      1 0 Reply
    2. mad physicist Fiona
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      Re: Technical Details

      Is that picture taken under available sunlight, passive IR, some composite of wavelengths? Are the spots 'bright' because they're whiter or hotter or what?

      Most of the pictures I've seen so far are unfiltered, i.e. what the CCD detects. That's essentially visible light extending some way into near IR.

      2 1 Reply
  3. Kriilin

    It's the Death Star in serious need of a wash....

    0 0 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
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      Anonymous Coward

      Galactic squeeje to the rescue ... "for a small fee (less than one nickel-iron asteroid), we can make this surface SHINE ... while you wait!"

      0 0 Reply
  4. dubious
    Flame

    Hope they're careful - we don't want to wake the Inhibitors.

    2 0 Reply
  5. Timbo

    Maybe it's a small, Dyson sphere with a white dwarf star inside?

    2 1 Reply
  6. VinceH

    What they're not telling you is that Dawn is actually a group of three craft, all equipped with lasers and there's another craft called Dusk that's following at some distance and recording video. It recorded this footage of Dawn#1 as it went into the Asteroid belt.

    1 1 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
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      Anonymous Coward

      > Dawn is actually a group of three craft

      Dawn , Tony and Orlando?

      1 0 Reply
      1. x 7
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        Is it true that Tony Orlando always awoke at the crack of Dawn?

        1 1 Reply
  7. macspite

    Careless photographer, studio lights reflected.

    0 1 Reply
  8. Stevie

    Bah!

    The picture is clearly showing the glowing radioactive remains of Starbug after some spectacular landing.

    That's what you get when you let vending machine mechanics mess with time travel and shuttle piloting.

    0 0 Reply
  9. x 7

    I never knew dwarfs lived on Ceres

    0 0 Reply

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