NASA's Dawn spacecraft took image of Ceres at a distance of 3,200 miles (5,100 kilometers) with a resolution of 1,600 feet (480 meters) per pixel on May 23.

Ceres is the largest object in the main belt of asteroids between Mars and Jupiter. After transmitting the images, the spacecraft resumed ion-thrusting towards its second mapping orbit.

Dawn will enter this orbit on June 3 and spend the rest of the month observing Ceres from 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers) above the surface.

It would allow the spacecraft to conduct an intensive study of Ceres and collect global imagery through the end of the month. Afterwards, the car-sized probe will continue to spiral closer and closer to the surface.

Dawn was launched in 2007 and studied the asteroid Vesta for more than a year. It then moved on to Ceres, which is the biggest asteroid and the smallest known dwarf planet.

The image taken by the Dawn hardly reveals about the origin of the bright spots located in another crater on Ceres. However, scientists anticipate that it would aid them to learn about the mysterious reflective patches.

Some scientists have suggested that the bright spots are caused by ice deposits, but NASA wants suggestions from the public about the origin of the bright spots. NASA has created an online poll and wants people to vote for their favorite explanations for the bright spots.

Dawn's top scientists told NBC News last week that Ceres' bright spots are possibly made of reflective water ice.

Dawn's mission is managed by JPL for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The spacecraft is a project of the directorate's Discovery Program, which is managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.