The dwarf planet Ceres’ photographs have been beamed back home by a NASA spacecraft from closest-ever vantage point. The pictures have given scientists a more detailed view of the terrain of the cratered world than ever before.

NASA's Dawn probe has captured the latest pictures of Ceres' southern hemisphere from an orbit that brought it nearly 240 miles from the surface of the dwarf planet. It is roughly 10 miles closer as compared to the International Space Station (ISS) is to our planet Earth in its average orbit.

These images highlight some features of the Ceres’ surface. NASA said that in a picture, Ceres seems to have a bit of ‘fracturing’ throughout its surface that is probably the result of past tectonic activity from within the dwarf planet that led to the crust’s breakup.

In a statement, Paul Schenk, Dawn science team member, said, “Why they are so prominent is not yet understood, but they are probably related to the complex crustal structure of Ceres”.

Previously in the mission, Dawn captured sight of some odd reflective spots in craters on Ceres, the biggest body in the main belt of asteroids between Jupiter and the Red Planet.

In the beginning, the spacecraft’s scientists weren’t able to detect the source of the puzzling bright patches, but now, they think the mystery is resolved. They think the spots have apparently caused due to salt deposits in the craters.

According to some researchers, Dawn’s data has suggested that Ceres contains ammonia in its composition. Ammonia is an element generally found in the outer solar system.