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dwarf planet

Ceres

The largest world in the asteroid belt.

Ceres is a differentiated dwarf planet and the only dwarf planet in the inner Solar System.

Orbit representation
Representative mean elements
Surface
derived map

Reference measurements

The numbers that shape this world

Mean radius
469.7 km
Semi-major axis
2.765 AU
Orbital period
4.599 Earth yearsKeplerian estimate from the catalogued semi-major axis.
Eccentricity
0.079
Inclination
10.587°
Visual geometry
sphere

Orbital character

A measured small-body path in the shared reference frame

Ceres follows a catalogued path with a 2.765 AU semi-major axis, eccentricity 0.079, and 10.587° inclination. The resulting two-body period estimate is 4.599 Earth years; the representation notes below state the source epoch and precision boundary used by Explore.

Catalogue context

Ceres among its nearest Helios peers

Ceres is linked with Vesta, Pallas, Hygiea inside the Helios main-belt selection. The grouping keeps adjacent reading coherent; it does not imply that these bodies share the same composition, origin, or present physical state.

Representation notes

What Explore is showing

A published JPL SBDB sample element set is propagated with a two-body solver for visual preview only; use Horizons for accurate ephemerides.

Reviewed official global map prepared as a 1K display texture. Small no-data seams were cleaned without inventing large-scale landmarks; final seam, pole and lighting review remains device-dependent.

Provenance

Sources and related destinations