Ceres (dwarf planet)Ceres, formally 1 Ceres, is the largest asteroid and the only dwarf planet in the inner Solar System. It is a rock–ice body some 950 km (590 mi) in diameter, comprising about a third of the mass of the asteroid belt. Discovered on 1 January 1801 by Giuseppe Piazzi, it was the first asteroid to be identified, though it was classified as a planet at the time. It is named after Ceres, the Roman goddess of growing plants, the harvest, and motherly love.
1. Ceres (bottom left), the Moon and the Earth, shown to scale : 2.Ceres as seen by Hubble Space Telescope
