# @nasa on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/BRZIWOfh4ES
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/11736139-nasa-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/d50b92c24a.jpg
- **Posted:** 2017-03-08T21:43:54.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** NASA (@NASA) — https://gondola.cc/NASA

## Caption

The bright central area of Ceres' Occator Crater, known as Cerealia Facula, is approximately 30 million years younger than the crater in which it lies, according to a new that used data from our Dawn spacecraft to analyze Occator's central dome in detail, concluding that this intriguing bright feature on the dwarf planet is only about 4 million years old -- quite recent in terms of geological history. The new study supports earlier interpretations from the Dawn team that this reflective material -- comprising the brightest area on all of Ceres -- is made of carbonate salts, although it did not confirm a particular type of carbonate previously identified. The secondary, smaller bright areas of Occator, called Vinalia Faculae, are comprised of a mixture of carbonates and dark material

The bright spots in the center of Occator Crater on Ceres are shown in enhanced color in this view from Dawn.

Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA/PSI/LPI

#nasa #dawn #ceres #space #planet #nasabeyond #solarsystem #science

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## Tags

nasabeyond, science, nasa, dawn, space, ceres, solarsystem, planet

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