Orbit and RotationCeres takes 1,682 Earth days, or 4.
Earth years, to make one trip around
the sun. As Ceres orbits the sun, it
completes one rotation every 9 hours,
making its day length one of the
shortest in the solar system.Ceres’ axis of rotation is tilted just 4degrees with respect to the plane of
its orbit around the sun. That means
it spins nearly perfectly upright and
doesn’t experience seasons like other
more tilted planets do.FormationCeres formed along with the rest of
the solar system about 4.5 billion yearsago when gravity pulled swirling gas
and dust in to become a small dwarf
planet. Scientists describe Ceres as
an “embryonic planet,” which means
it started to form but didn’t quite
finish. Nearby Jupiter’s strong gravity
prevented it from becoming a fully
formed planet. About 4 billion years
ago, Ceres settled into its current
location among the leftover pieces of10 neScholar^0 vol 4^0 issue 4