Ceres, a dwarf planet, is the largest object in the asteroid belt that lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Ceres was discovered in 1801 by Giuseppe Piazzi and was the first asteroid ever discovered. At first it was considered a planet but was reclassified as an asteroid in the 1850’s when other objects with similar orbits were discovered.
Ceres is best known for its bright spots which NASA now believes to be made of a type of salt, specifically a form of brine made of magnesium sulfate hexahydrite (MgSO4·6H2O) and may be associated with several types of ammonia rich clays.
Ceres is named after the Roman goddess of agriculture, though to this day the asteroid is called Demeter in Greece after the Greek equivalent of Ceres.
This desk sculpture pays tribute to this dwarf planet and the mythical figure after which it is named.