The NASA Dawn spacecraft’s close-up study of the giant asteroid Vesta is offering researchers their first look at the elemental composition of this ancient protoplanet. Vesta is the second most massive body in the main asteroid belt and has remained intact since its formation more than 4.5 billion years ago.

Meteorites found on Earthcan often be identified as originated from Mars, the Moon or larger asteroids like Vesta. Some of these Vesta meteorites have long pussled astronomers, as they seem to be of newer date. But as the Dawn spacecraft found a big mountain on Vesta, they could actually cone from this the impact that created this specific impact-vulcano

The new Cosmic Origins Spectrograph aboard the Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a strong ultraviolet-wavelength absorber on Pluto's surface, providing new evidence that points to the possibility of complex hydrocarbon and/or nitrile molecules lying on the surface

The Dawn spacecraft spent the last four years voyaging to asteroid Vesta - and may have found a planet. Vesta was discovered over 200 years ago but, until Dawn, has been seen only as an indistinct blur and considered little more than a large, rocky body. Now the spacecraft's instruments are revealing the true complexity of this ancient world.