Spacecraft Set to Reveal First Look at Dwarf Planets
NASA spacecraft will finally get a good look this year at Pluto and Ceres, two mysterious and tiny worlds.
A pair of small alien worlds, Ceres and Pluto, move into the spotlight this year as spacecraft arrive at their cosmic shores for the first time.
NASA's Dawn spacecraft released its first views of Ceres on Monday, already hinting at previously unknown craters. Still ahead for NASA's New Horizons probe is former planet Pluto, billions of miles from Ceres and the king of a distant, icy realm.
Both are dwarf planets, mini-worlds that just don't make the cut as official planets. It's a vast population of worldlets that scientists don't know much about.
But if all goes according to plan, that will change starting now. And it's about time the little guys got some attention.
"There are more dwarf planets than all the gas
