Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

Dwarf Planet Ceres

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for February 4, 2016 is “Dwarf Planet Ceres,” an image. It is credited to Image Credit & License: NASA , JPL-Caltech , UCLA , MPS,DLR,IDA – Composition: Justin Cowart. The original explanation runs about 118 words.

Dwarf Planet Ceres
Credit: Image Credit & License: NASA , JPL-Caltech , UCLA , MPS,DLR,IDA – Composition: Justin Cowart Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“Dwarf planet Ceres is the largest object in the Solar System’s main asteroid belt , with a diameter of about 950 kilometers (590 miles). Ceres is seen here in approximately true color, based on image data from the Dawn spacecraft recorded on May 4, 2015.”

— APOD editors, February 4, 2016

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
February 4, 2016
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Image Credit & License: NASA , JPL-Caltech , UCLA , MPS,DLR,IDA – Composition: Justin Cowart
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 118 words

All of February 2016 → · 2016 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

Asteroids

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: February 4 in other years

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Source

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.