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Which Is the Largest Asteroid?

spaceasteroidsrecords

Quick Answer

Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt, about 940 kilometres across, and is classified as a dwarf planet.

The Full Story

Ceres was discovered on 1 January 1801 by Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi, making it the first object found in the asteroid belt. It is about 940 kilometres in diameter and contains roughly a quarter of the belt's total mass. In 2006 it was reclassified as a dwarf planet, the same year Pluto was. NASA's Dawn spacecraft orbited Ceres from 2015 to 2018 and found bright deposits of sodium carbonate in Occator crater. The largest body still classed purely as an asteroid is Vesta, about 525 kilometres across.

Key Facts

1.Ceres is thought to contain a large amount of water ice beneath its surface.
2.Dawn was the first spacecraft to orbit two different bodies, Vesta and Ceres.
3.Ceres is named after the Roman goddess of agriculture.

YouTube Angle

Suggested video title for this topic:

"Ceres — the asteroid that became a dwarf planet."

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