This breathtaking animation, produced by a team of scientists at the German Aerospace Center, shows a simulated flight over the surface of Ceres, based on images from Dawn’s high-altitude mapping orbit (900 miles, or 1,450 km).

“The simulated overflight shows the wide range of crater shapes that we have encountered on Ceres,” said Dr. Ralf Jaumann, a scientist at the German Aerospace Center and a member of NASA’s Dawn science team.

“The viewer can observe the sheer walls of the crater Occator, which come close to the north face of the Eiger, but also Dantu and Yalode, where the craters are a lot flatter.”

Dr. Jaumann and his colleagues used 2,350 images to generate a realistic view of Ceres.

As part of this, contrast-enhanced real colors show the variety of materials found on dwarf planet’s surface.

The researchers believe areas with shades of blue contain younger, fresher material, including flows, pits and cracks.

The Haulani crater, for example, looks fairly recent – blue and brown regions merge there.

“It could either be that material was melted there through impact or that material has penetrated through from below,” Dr. Jaumann explained.

“Under the crust, which could be up to 62 mile (100 km) thick, it could be much softer. The salts that are probably present on Ceres destabilize the ice and create a tough mush in the interior.”

Even the flanks of the 19,700 foot (6,000 m) tall Ahuna Mons are covered with fresh material.

“The material found here could be similar to that of the impact craters, where the interior of Ceres has made its way to the outside,” Dr. Jaumann said.

“Regions containing clay appear brownish,” he added.

“On Earth, we would be able to make, for example, brick or terracotta, from that.”