Dwarf planet · 1
Ceres
A dwarf planet in the asteroid belt
Dawn orbited Ceres after exploring Vesta. Its observations revealed bright salt deposits, ice-rich material and a differentiated interior.

Understand this world
The asteroid belt is mostly spaceUnderstand the belt’s sparse population, Jupiter’s resonances and the different histories preserved by its larger objects. · 3 minMeasurements
- Effective diameter
- 939.4 km
- Semimajor axis
- 2.766 AU
- Orbital period
- 1,679.853 Earth days
Orbit, physical values and uncertainties
- eccentricity
- .07969229514816586 ± 4.7755E-12
- semi-major axis
- 2.765552595034094 au ± 1.0134E-11
- perihelion distance
- 2.545159361382861 au ± 1.9113E-11
- inclination; angle with respect to x-y ecliptic plane
- 10.58802780183462 deg ± 4.6124E-9
- longitude of the ascending node
- 80.24862682043221 deg ± 6.1807E-8
- argument of perihelion
- 73.29421453021587 deg ± 6.6076E-8
- mean anomaly
- 274.4193463761342 deg ± 6.1728E-9
- time of perihelion passage
- 2461599.841466614066 TDB ± 2.8446E-8
- sidereal orbital period
- 1679.853119758983 d ± 9.2333E-9
- mean motion
- .21430445064843 deg/d ± 1.1779E-12
- aphelion distance
- 2.985945828685327 au ± 1.0942E-11
- absolute magnitude
- 3.34
- magnitude slope
- 0.12
- diameter
- 939.4 km ± 0.2
- extent
- 964.4 x 964.2 x 891.8 km ± 0.2 x 0.2 x 0.2
- GM
- 62.6284 km^3/s^2 ± 0.0009
- bulk density
- 2.162 g/cm^3 ± 0.008
- rotation period
- 9.074170 h ± 0.000001
- pole direction
- 291.421/66.758 ± 0.007/0.002
- geometric albedo
- 0.090 ± 0.003
- B-V
- 0.713 ± 0.014
- U-B
- 0.426 ± 0.026
- Tholen spectral type
- G
- SMASSII spectral type
- C
Published JPL orbital elements describe their stated epoch; they are not current positions. Small-body diameters can be effective/model-dependent sizes, not spherical shapes. Missing measurements remain unavailable. Pluto’s diameter uses the New Horizons reference rather than an empty SBDB field. Orbital epoch: JD 2461200.5 TDB.
Object reference ↗Missions & milestones
1 launches · 0 connected events
These are target-related flights and every connected programme record in the production catalogue. A connected event may concern another stage or target of the same journey. Launch outcome does not establish arrival or current operation.
Dawn
September 27, 2007 · UTC
Complete source cohort: 9,386 records.
