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Located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, Vesta is not a garden-variety asteroid but instead shares many qualities with rocky planets. Many of the space rocks in the zone resemble potatoes, but Vesta is shaped more like an avocado with its iron core and differentiated layers. Measuring 330 miles across, it's the second largest object in the asteroid belt. Scientists are intrigued by asteroids because they're leftovers from the solar system's birth some 4.5 billion years ago and studying them can offer clues about how Earth and other planets emerged. Dawn will depart Vesta in late summer, firing its ion propulsion engines to cruise on to a bigger target
-- an asteroid named Ceres where it will arrive in 2015. ___ Online: Science journal: http://www.sciencemag.org/ Dawn mission: http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/
[Associated
Press;
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