Dawn spacecraft starts to orbit Ceres in mission to photograph dwarf planet

Probe that took off in 2007 will spend next 16 months studying Ceres' surface in the hope it will solve the mystery of bright spots that has intrigued scientists

The Dawn spacecraft has started orbiting Ceres, the largest-known body in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, taking "close-up" images that scientists hope will reveal the mystery of a pair of bright spots on the dwarf planet.

Scientists have been intrigued by earlier images from the Nasa spacecraft of 621-mile-wide Ceres, with the brighter of the two spots in a crater reflecting at least 40% of the sunlight that falls on it.

Related: Dawn on Ceres: Nasa probe to enter dwarf planet's orbit