Interactive Ceres atlas
Surface encoding
The embedded texture derives from Dawn observations; the named locations derive from the USGS Gazetteer. Mapped surface presents albedo without a moving light source, Relief lighting applies the embedded normal map at a selectable illumination angle, and Shape mesh exposes the presentation geometry itself.
The Occator faculae are sodium-carbonate deposits, Ahuna Mons is the type example of a cerean cryovolcanic dome, Oxo exposes water ice, and the terrain near Ernutet carries the strongest localized aliphatic-organic signature. These observations underlie the classification of Ceres as a volatile-rich dwarf planet.
Source asset
The local GLB contains one mesh, a Dawn surface texture and a normal map. It is loaded from Data/atlas/models/solar-system/dwarf-planets/ceres.glb.
Resolution limit
The PDS SPC delivery is a global topography model at 100 m ground sample distance, derived from about 38,000 FC2 images. The web asset here is a presentation model, so its normal-map shading is not reported as measured elevation.
Coordinate frame
Markers use planetocentric latitude and east longitude from the Gazetteer archive retrieved 6 August 2026, on the ellipsoid a = 482.10 km, c = 445.94 km. Marker size is symbolic, not the feature footprint.
Current orbital position
Ceres is highlighted among the named bodies in the site orbital map. This is positional context evaluated at run time, separate from the archival Dawn surface observations.
Data provenance
- NASA Science — Ceres downloadable 3D model
- NASA Planetary Data System — Dawn Ceres SPC shape model
- NASA Planetary Data System — Dawn FC2 global mosaics
- USGS / IAU — Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature: Ceres
- Ruesch, O., et al. (2016), “Cryovolcanism on Ceres”, Science 353(6303), aaf4286. doi:10.1126/science.aaf4286
- De Sanctis, M. C., et al. (2017), “Localized aliphatic organic material on the surface of Ceres”, Science 355(6326), 719–722. doi:10.1126/science.aaj2305
- De Sanctis, M. C., et al. (2016), “Bright carbonate deposits as evidence of aqueous alteration on (1) Ceres”, Nature 536(7614), 54–57. doi:10.1038/nature18290
- Combe, J.-P., et al. (2016), “Detection of local H2O exposed at the surface of Ceres”, Science 353(6303), aaf3010. doi:10.1126/science.aaf3010
- Park, R. S., et al. (2016), “A partially differentiated interior for (1) Ceres deduced from its gravity field and shape”, Nature 537(7621), 515–517. doi:10.1038/nature18955 — source of the triaxial figure a = b = 482.10 km, c = 445.94 km
- Park, R. S., et al. (2019), “High-resolution shape model of Ceres from stereophotoclinometry using Dawn Imaging Data”, Icarus 319, 812–827. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2018.10.024
- Archinal, B. A., et al. (2018), “Report of the IAU Working Group on Cartographic Coordinates and Rotational Elements: 2015”, Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy 130, 22. doi:10.1007/s10569-017-9805-5