How many au is ceres from the sun

The name then changed to Ceres after the roman goddess of harvest and motherly love. Located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter , Ceres encompasses one-third of all the mass found in the asteroid belt. Its size would later grant it the status of a dwarf planet, in It is located just under 2. Ceres is believed to have been formed around 4. Gravity pulled swirling gas and dust and it resulted in the creation of the small dwarf planet. Ceres is described by scientists as an embryonic planet or proto planet, meaning that it started to form as a planet but failed to finish.

Ceres settled into its current location among the rest of the leftover pieces of planetary formation. Another theory of its origin states that Ceres was actually formed within the Kuiper Belt before migrating closer to the Sun via various large gravitational influences.

Ceres has the radius of kilometers or miles. The diameter of Ceres is estimated to be about kilometers, meaning that Ceres is a comparative size to the top to bottom length of the United Kingdom. It follows an orbit between Mars and Jupiter, within the asteroid belt and closer to the orbit of Mars. It takes about 4. As Ceres orbits the sun, it completes one rotation every 9 hours, thus its day length, which is one of the shortest in the solar system. Ceres is covered in countless small, young craters, no larger than kilometers or miles in diameter.

The dwarf planet is made up mostly from ice and rock, with a rocky interior and an icy exterior. On the surface, ice mixes with various minerals, iron rich clay can also be found on the surface. The surface is relatively warm for an asteroid, the average surface temperature is about degrees Kelvin or minus 36 degrees Fahrenheit or minus 38 degrees Celsius.

It has been determined that this could be the result of outgassing or from a unique type of volcano called a cryovolcano. The outgassing is a common feature of a comet. Its composition lends itself to the formation of life as we know it. Its prospects for life are positive and as such it has gathered our attention for further observations.

In organic molecules were discovered on Ceres, the carbon-containing building blocks of life. These organics more importantly, appear to be native, likely forming on Ceres rather than arriving via asteroid or comet strikes.

Scientists were pleased with this discovery. It was the first member of the asteroid belt to be discovered when Giuseppe Piazzi spotted it in Called an asteroid for many years, Ceres is so much bigger and so different from its rocky neighbors that scientists classified it as a dwarf planet in Ceres is named for the Roman goddess of corn and harvests.

The word cereal comes from the same name. If Earth were the size of a nickel, Ceres would be about as big as a poppy seed. Ceres is so much bigger and so different from its neighbors that scientists classified it as a dwarf planet in Scientists would like to search for possible signs of life on Ceres. It has something many other planets don't: water. Ceres is named for the Roman goddess of grain crops and harvests.

The largest body in the asteroid belt, Ceres has amassed a number of references in science fiction stories of the 20th and 21st centuries. In the video game Destiny, Ceres was colonized by an alien race called the Fallen at the end of humanity's Golden Age. Ceres was later destroyed by a civilization of post-humans who inhabit the asteroid belt.

Overview Dwarf planet Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and it's the only dwarf planet located in the inner solar system. Dwarf planet Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and it's the only dwarf planet located in the inner solar system. It was the first member of the asteroid belt to be discovered when Giuseppe Piazzi spotted it in Called an asteroid for many years, Ceres is so much bigger and so different from its rocky neighbors that scientists classified it as a dwarf planet in Ceres is named for the Roman goddess of corn and harvests.

The word cereal comes from the same name. Ceres is one of the few places in our solar system where scientists would like to search for possible signs of life. Ceres has something a lot of other planets don't: water.

Here on Earth, water is essential for life, so it's possible that with this ingredient and a few other conditions met, life possibly could exist there.

If anything does live on Ceres, it's likely to be very small microbes similar to bacteria. If Ceres does not have living things today, there may be signs it harbored life in the past.

If Earth were the size of a nickel, Ceres would be about as big as a poppy seed. From an average distance of million miles million kilometers , Ceres is 2. One astronomical unit abbreviated as AU , is the distance from the Sun to Earth. From this distance, it takes sunlight 22 minutes to travel from the Sun to Ceres. Ceres takes 1, Earth days, or 4. As Ceres orbits the Sun, it completes one rotation every 9 hours, making its day length one of the shortest in the solar system.

Ceres' axis of rotation is tilted just 4 degrees with respect to the plane of its orbit around the Sun. That means it spins nearly perfectly upright and doesn't experience seasons like other more tilted planets do. Ceres formed along with the rest of the solar system about 4. Scientists describe Ceres as an "embryonic planet," which means it started to form but didn't quite finish.

Nearby Jupiter's strong gravity prevented it from becoming a fully formed planet.