Let's take a look inside. The latest from NASA's Dawn probe, which has been in orbit around the dwarf planet Ceres since April last year, suggests this tiny world has water ice on the surface and craters that provide a window on its interior. A spectacular view of the beguiling bright spots at the heart of the 92-kilometre-wide Occator crater from just 375 kilometres up, shown above, was just one of the latest findings unveiled by the mission team at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in The Woodlands, Texas, on 22 March. These spots have perplexed researchers since Dawn first reached Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt. Probing their nature could give clues to Ceres's interior. In the new image, Dawn has seen colour variations across the surface of the bright regions. These wouldn't be visible to the human eye, but reflect possible differences in the composition of the material seen by Dawn.
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