NASA's Dawn ship managed to observe Ceres at the moment of opposition on April 29, 2017
The device Dawn is located between the Sun and Ceres and tried to maneuver so as to capture the crater Occator, which contains (from this perspective) the brightest region.
On a moving image, the contrast was specifically enhanced to highlight the brightness of specific locations. Bright spots are particularly well visible on a relatively soft surface. The ship was located at a distance of 20,000 km.
With the help of ground-based telescopes and spacecraft that track planetary bodies in opposition, scientists were able to accurately predict when Ceres will become brighter due to a change of position. The device has collected a huge array of information from different angles of illumination for 2 years of stay near the dwarf planet. This allows researchers to better understand its surface properties.
