Mysterious 'Bright Spots' on Ceres Baffle Experts

A full rotation of the planet has also revealed another, fainter bright spot not too far away from the original. And while this may seem like it would just add to the mystery, Chris Russell, principal investigator for the Dawn mission, explained that this may be a valuable clue.

"Ceres' bright spot can now be seen to have a companion of lesser brightness, but apparently in the same basin. This may be pointing to a volcano-like origin of the spots, but we will have to wait for better resolution before we can make such geologic interpretations," he said.

So what's the point of taking all these photos if they really don't show much? Aside from it serving as an intriguing guessing game for the Dawn team, the images will also help NASA determine how and when to position the spacecraft - correcting trajectory or aiming for an important flyby.

It's all part of a decision-making process eight years in the making, since Dawn launched in 2007.

"Now, finally, we have a spacecraft on the verge of unveiling this mysterious, alien world," Marc Rayman, chief engineer and mission director of the Dawn mission, said in a statement. "Soon it will reveal myriad secrets Ceres has held since the dawn of the solar system."

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