The two most famous bright spots on Ceres have been given names. These once-mysterious spots are now thought by most scientists to be salt deposits. They’re now called Cerealia Facula (for the brighter of the two spots) and Vinalia Faculae (for the cluster of less reflective spots to the east). Both names are related to ancient Roman festivals. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Berlin created the new video above. It simulates the experience of flying around Occator crater, which contains the two bright spots.
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) approved the new names on November 26, 2016 and scientists used them while discussing other findings about Ceres at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco, December 12-16, 2016.
Ceres – re-classified as a dwarf planet by the IAU in 2006, at the same time Pluto was demoted from full planet status – was formerly called asteroid Ceres and was the first asteroid to have been discovered in 1801. It’s the largest body in the asteroid belt. The Dawn spacecraft is currently flying in an extended mission phase, in an elliptical orbit more than 4,500 miles (7,200 kilometers) from Ceres.
While approach Ceres in 2015, still relatively far from entering orbit several weeks later, Dawn first glimpsed the bright spots. They looked – at first – strange.
More at and pictures
http://earthsky.org/space/ceres-bright-spots-get-names
