"Sunlight is moving northward on Vesta, and we will soon see the north pole regions," Russell said. "What could be there to complement what we see in the south?"

When Dawn finishes up at Vesta, it will start the long trek to the dwarf planet Ceres, which is roughly as wide as Texas. The probe is scheduled to reach the "queen of the asteroid belt" in February 2015 and embark upon a whole new round of discoveries.

"We expect that Ceres is a much wetter world" than Vesta, Russell said. But, he added, "we have no meteorites to help us here. Everything will be a surprise."

• Vesta: Asteroid or Dwarf Planet? | Video
• Photos: Asteroids in Deep Space
• The 7 Strangest Asteroids in the Solar System

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8 Comments

1. 1. Algie 02:10 PM 5/12/12

   It would be interesting to see an article about proto-panets like Vesta and the moons of Saturn and Jupiter which are also identified as proto-planets - Like Dione. Where were they formed in the solar system, what are the relative sizes of their cores, their surface composition. Some of this must be possible now that both Jovian and Saturian systems have been surveyed extensively, especially Saturn with numerous moon flybys to date.

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2. 2. mhenriday 09:00 AM 5/13/12

   I agree with Algie ; these are some of the most fascinating objects in the Solar System ! But in that case, please make it a longer, more detailed article....
   
   Henri

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3. 3. thevillagegeek in reply to mhenriday 07:11 PM 5/13/12

   "please make it a longer, more detailed article...."
   
   Try reading page 2 or 3, accessed by the links with the appropriate number below the text, or by clicking the 'Next' link in the same area of the page.

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4. 4. Quinn the Eskimo 09:39 PM 5/13/12

   Now that that is settled, perhaps we can start strip mining the thing now? Drill, baby, drill.

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5. 5. Moto01 12:10 PM 5/14/12

   With the huge distance between mars and jupiter, and the aseroid belt contained there it seems possible that two planets may have collided and produced this belt. With some asteroids being "rocky" and others varying as partially or completly metalic suggests these formed in a process of planatary specific gravity/density like the Earth or Mars.
   I have no data to support this theory, but maybe there is.

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6. 6. mhenriday 12:56 PM 5/14/12

   Dear «village geek», whatever made you think that I hadn't read all three pages of the above article regarding Vespa ? Whatever it was, you were sadly deluded. However, not being a member of the Tweeter generation, I do hope that any coming article on proto-planets will be alloted more than these three brief pages ; the subject certainly deserves that much....
   
   Henri

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7. 7. Wayne Williamson 05:41 PM 5/17/12

   Very cool discoveries...and more to come...

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8. 8. Grumpyoleman 07:45 AM 5/19/12

   I hope for an asteroid with commercial value, for example, solid gold, that would spur the private sector into developing the means to capture it and drag it into earth orbit for exploitation. A real viable space race would be the result. Government doesn't have the incentive to get us to where many of us wish to be.

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