US space probe leaves asteroid8217;s orbit

8220;The findings are helping scientists unlock some of the secrets of how the solar system,including our own Earth,was formed,8221; NASA said.

Vesta and Ceres are both located between Mars and Jupiter.

NASA8217;s deep space network of antennas and communications facilities confirmed the spacecraft8217;s departure from Vesta8217;s orbit,the space agency said.

Launched September 27,2007,Dawn is equipped with a high resolution camera and two spectrometers.

It weighs 1.2 tons and is 1.64 meters long and 1.27 meters wide,and is powered by an electric motor with ion propulsion that enables it to travel great distances at high speeds.

Discovered in 1801,Cereis is spherical body that is 960 kilometres in diameter and is made up of dense frozen water around a rocky core.

It was classified in 2006 as one of three 8220;dwarf planets8221; in our solar system along with Pluto and Eris,under a new definition arrived at by the International Astronomical Union after it took away Pluto8217;s status as a planet.

Vesta was discovered in 1807. It is a large,irregularly shaped rock,with an iron core and no trace of water. Its diameter is 520 kilometres.

Dawn will travel a total of 5.1 billion kilometers on its USD 466 million mission.