Cerera

== Cerera== Ceres,   minor-planet designation  1 Ceres, is the only   dwarf planet  in the   inner Solar System, and the   largest asteroid. [19] [20] [21]   It is a rock–ice body 950 km (590 mi) in diameter, and though the smallest identified dwarf planet, it constitutes a third of the mass of the <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  asteroid belt<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Pitjeva2005_22-0" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:1em;">[22] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Moomaw_23-0" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:1em;">[23] <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">Discovered on 1 January 1801 by <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  Giuseppe Piazzi<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">, <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-hoskin_24-0" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:1em;">[24] <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">it was the first asteroid to be identified, though it was classified as a planet at the time. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-coffey_25-0" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:1em;">[25] <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">It is named after <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  Ceres<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">, the <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">  Roman goddess<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">of growing plants, the harvest, and motherly love.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The Cererian surface is probably a mixture of water ice and various hydrated minerals such as carbonates and clays.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Rivkin2006_14-1" style="line-height:1em;">[14]  It appears to be differentiated into arocky core and icy mantle,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Thomas2005_8-6" style="line-height:1em;">[8]  and may harbour an ocean of liquid water under its surface.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-McCord2005_26-0" style="line-height:1em;">[26] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Castillo-Rogez2007_27-0" style="line-height:1em;">[27]  From Earth, the apparent magnitude of Ceres ranges from 6.7 to 9.3, and hence even at its brightest it is still too dim to be seen with the naked eye except under extremely dark skies.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Pasachoff1983_15-1" style="line-height:1em;">[15]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The unmanned Dawn spacecraft, launched on 27 September 2007 by NASA, is expected to be the first to explore Ceres after its scheduled arrival there in 2015.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Russel2006_28-0" style="line-height:1em;">[28]  The spacecraft left asteroid 4 Vesta about 5 September 2012,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-29" style="line-height:1em;">[29]  which it had been orbiting since July 2011.