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Scientists with NASA's Dawn mission released closeup photos of Ceres on Tuesday at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Texas.聽

Low-orbit images of the dwarf planet located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter were highly anticipated because of what they could potentially say about the Occator Crater. Bright spots on Ceres have perplexed scientists since NASA鈥檚 Dawn mission sent images of them back last year. And measuring 57 miles across and 2.5 miles deep, Occator Crater holds the brightest area on the entire planet.聽

The new images taken 240 miles from Ceres鈥� surface 鈥� Dawn鈥檚 lowest-altitude orbit 鈥� did not disappoint. An enhanced聽color map of Ceres reveals a geologically complex surface.聽

鈥淎lthough impact processes dominate the surface geology on Ceres, we have identified indicating material alterations that are due to a complex interaction of the impact process and the subsurface composition,鈥� Ralf Jaumann, of the German Aerospace Center in Berlin, says in a NASA blog post. 鈥淎dditionally, this gives evidence for a subsurface layer enriched in ice and volatiles.鈥�

Surprisingly, big impact basins 鈥� such as ones like Occator Crater 鈥� are actually rather rare on the dwarf planet. This is surprising because based on the solar system鈥檚 collision history, craters as big as Occator should be dispersed over Ceres' surface.聽

鈥淲e must think that those craters formed, and then they got erased,鈥� Simone Marchi of the Southwest Research Institute told National Geographic. 鈥淭he question is, How can you ?鈥澛�

And Occator itself is proving to be unique. The latest images show a dome in a pit within the crater鈥檚 bright center, surrounded by fractures. 聽聽

鈥淭he intricate geometry of the crater interior suggests geologic activity in the recent past, but we will need to complete detailed geologic mapping of the crater in order to test hypotheses for its formation,鈥� explains Jaumann in NASA鈥檚 press release.聽

Along with 鈥渉ighlighting the diversity of surface materials and their relationships to surface morphology,鈥� Dawn鈥檚 lowest-altitude orbit also collected more detailed data on Ceres鈥� neutron count and Oxo Crater, a young feature on Ceres where water has been detected.

鈥淏efore Dawn began its intensive observations of Ceres last year, Occator Crater looked to be one large bright area,鈥� says Dr. Jaumann. 鈥淣ow, with the latest close views, we can see complex features that provide .鈥澛�

The latest images prove that Occator continues to elude scientists, and the lack of other big craters add to Ceres's mystery.