Key facts
- Mean diameter
- 939.4 km
- Mass
- 9.38 × 10^20 kg (0.000157 Earths)
- Surface gravity
- 0.28 m/s² (0.0286 g)
- Escape velocity
- 0.51 km/s
- Mean temperature
- -105 °C
- Rotation period
- 9.07 hours
- Orbital period
- 1,682 days
- Mean distance from the Sun
- 414 million km
- Sunlight travel time
- 23 min 1.0 s
- Confirmed moons
- 0
Atmosphere
No substantial atmosphere; transient water vapour has been detected.
Composition and structure
Rock and water ice, with bright salt (sodium carbonate) deposits.
Discovery and exploration
Discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi in 1801. NASA's Dawn orbited Ceres from 2015 to 2018, revealing the bright deposits of Occator Crater.