NASA's Dawn spacecraft is now officially in orbit around the dwarf planet Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

This historical event was confirmed when a signal was received by mission control at 8:36 a.m. EST March 6. Ceres is the first dwarf planet ever visited by a spacecraft.

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Scientists and astronomers are hoping to retrieve more information about Ceres about the solar system's early stages of formation some four and a half billion years ago.

Dawn journeyed into deep space for about seven and a half years. Over the course of the next month, controllers will slowly maneuver the probe to prepare for its science phase in late April.

Mission control will progressively lower Dawn's orbit until it will only be a few hundred kilometers above the surface of Ceres. During that time, the probe is expected to capture high resolution photos of the planet.

According to Chris Russell who's the mission's principal investigator from the University of California, Los Angeles, this is truly exhilarating. There is so much to do over the next year and a half, however, and the team is now ready with ample reserves and a robust plan to fulfill its science objectives.

Scientists believe Ceres' core consists of a rocky nucleus covered with ice and insulated by rocky depositories found at the surface. Dawn's mission is to answer whether or not there is a liquid ocean of water underneath the dwarf planet's surface as some models suggest.

Dawn also hopes to find out the origin of two bright spots seen inside a 92 kilometer wide crater in its Northern Hemisphere.

Scientists speculate Ceres was impacted by something that exposed deeply buried ice formations underneath. These very bright lights are probably highly reflective salts from the icy water hidden under the surface.

Dawn's mission will last for at least 14 months. According to Carol Raymond who is the mission's deputy principal investigator from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the probe will then run out of fuel at some point and lose its ability to maintain its altitude.

This will then result in Ceres losing control over its solar arrays and ultimately losing all power to function.

TagsNASA's Dawn Spacecraft is Now First Probe to Orbit a Dwarf Planet, NASA, ceres dwarf planet, NASA Dawn spacecraft, NASA Dawn spacecraft probe orbit dwarf planet Ceres