Other Names: | 1 Ceres, MPC-1 |
Type: | Cold Icy Dwarf Planet |
System: | Sol |
Position: | Between 4th and 5th |
Moons: | 1 (Xōchipilli) (artificial) |
Orbital Period: | 4.61 years (1,643.1 days) |
Semimajor Axis: | 2.76 AU |
Periapsis: | 2.55 AU |
Apoapsis: | 2.97 AU |
Incilnation: | 10.59° |
Eccentricity: | 0.07 |
Radius: | 469.7 km |
Gravity: | 0.029 g |
Rotational Period: | 9.07 hours |
Axial Tilt: | 4.61° |
Age: | 4.572 billion years |
Average Temperature: | -140.15 °C |
Discovered: | 1801 |
Exploration: | - 2007 (AGORA, first orbiter) - 2031 (Calathus, first lander) - 2042 (Demeter 1, first manned landing) |
Colonization: | - 2062 (Sangri Base) |
Species: | Humans |
Population: | 850 (2110) |
Ceres, official designation 1 Ceres, is a dwarf planet in the Sol System. It lies within the Main Asteroid Belt (as the Belt's largest object) between Mars and Jupiter. With a mean diameter of 945 kilometers, Ceres is both the largest asteroid and the largest dwarf planet within the orbit of Neptune. It is named after the Roman deity Ceres, the goddess of fertility and agriculture. Ceres was first observed in 1801 by Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi, and initially regarded as a planet. However, it was reclassified as an asteroid in the 1850s and again as a dwarf planet in 1999, a designation it retains today.
Physical Characteristics[]
Considered both a dwarf planet and a Main Belt asteroid, Ceres is the largest object between Mars and Jupiter and has a partially liquid layer of brine below its crust that results in the development of cryovolcanoes such as Ahuna Mons every 50 million years or so. Comprising nearly a full third of the mass of the entire asteroid belt, Ceres is also at least partially differentiated, with a majority of its heavier elements sunk towards its core and dispersed through a muddy (ice and rock) mantle.
Being so large, Ceres also holds a large amount of water ice in its interior, and thus has become a major source of water for the Main Belt. It is also notable for being the smallest object to exist in hydrostatic equilibrium (i.e. rounded by its own gravity), making sustained orbits of Ceres easier than many other Main Belt objects.
Exploration[]
The Demeter-1 landing in 2042 was both the first landing on Ceres as well as the first manned landing on a minor planet in the solar system, and as of 2110 currently qualifies as the furthest mankind has advanced into the Sol System. Owing to its unique properties, Ceres has become the main base for all human activities in the Main Belt, including exploration and capture of asteroids to be redirected toward Earth for mineral extraction.
Ceres itself is only home to one permanent human settlement, Demeter Base, located in Kerwan Crater. Despite its relatively large size size and stability of its environment, the distance of Ceres from the main human colonies on Luna and Mars have made further colonization and development impractical. Because of this, Demeter Base is home to only 850 permanent inhabitants, none of whom were born there and almost all of whom are scientific personnel. Civilian settlement on Ceres is currently prohibited and will likely remain so for the indefinite future.
As the development of the Starbound Fleet continues, Ceres is slowly but steadily gaining importance to the interplanetary activities of humanity, with increased presence and activity in the Main Belt requiring the further development of Ceres. As Mars becomes increasingly self-sufficient, and Venus remains impractical to colonize, it is likely that focus will be further shifted to Ceres and the Main Belt, especially once Zeus-1 begins to establish a permanent human presence beyond it.