NASA's Dawn Probe Uncovers New Mysteries on Dwarf Planet Ceres

— -- NASA's Dawn probe has unlocked new mysteries about the terrain of the dwarf planet Ceres, including irregularly shaped craters and a solitary 4-mile-high mountain.

New images and data sent back to Earth from the mission have captivated scientists -- while also raising new questions about the dwarf planet's topographical features.

"Ceres continues to amaze, yet puzzle us, as we examine our multitude of images, spectra and now energetic particle bursts," Chris Russell, Dawn's principal investigator, said in a statement.

One of the new mysteries includes observations from Dawn's gamma ray and neutron spectrometer, which found three bursts of energized electrons could possibly be the result of interaction between Ceres and the sun's radiation, however the hypothesis is still being investigated.

Another shows the cone-shaped 4-mile-high mountain in the Occator crater, which is also home to some of Ceres' brightest spots. Scientists are still trying to determine what processes could have created the mountain or shaped Ceres' irregular craters.

Nearly 600 miles in diameter, about 25 percent of Ceres' mass is believed to be ice. Ceres is the largest body in the asteroid belt, which lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Dawn will begin this month descending to its lowest orbit of Ceres, reaching an altitude of 230 miles. The probe has been orbiting Ceres since March and will continue studying the dwarf planet through June 2016.