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Thermal inertia is a key information to quantify the physical status of a planetary surface. We derive the thermal inertia of the surface of Ceres using spatially resolved data from the Dawn mission. For each location, this quantity can be constrained by comparing theoretical and observed diurnal temperature profiles from retrieved temperatures. We calculated Ceres's surface theoretical temperatures with a thermophysical model that provides temperature as a function of thermal conductivity and roughness, and we determined the values of those parameters for which the best fit with the observed data is obtained. Our results suggest that the area of crater Haulani displays thermal inertia values (up to 130–140 J·m−2·s−½·K−1) substantially higher than the very low to low values (from 1–15 to 50–60 J·m−2·s−½·K−1) derived for the overall surface of Ceres. The results are more ambiguous for the bright faculae located in the floor of crater Occator. Plain Language Summary: We have calculated Ceres's surface temperatures and we have compared them with the observations. We have used new high‐resolution data provided by the Dawn/National Aeronautics and Space Administration mission, which was launched in 2007 with the aim of studying two of the largest bodies of the Main Belt: Vesta and Ceres. Our results suggest that the surface is made of fine‐grained material, according to previous analysis made by other authors by using other independent data and methods. We have also studied two particular areas of Ceres that shows peculiar properties (albedo and/or chemical/physical structure). Key Points: The thermal inertia of the surface of Ceres has been derived using spatially resolved data from the Dawn missionThe Haulani crater appears to have a higher thermal inertia with respect to Ceres's averageThe average thermal inertia of the surface of Ceres appears to have low values (1–15 J·m−2·s−½·K−1) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The main goal of the VESPA (Virtual European Solar and Planetary Access) activity, developed in the framework of the EU-funded project Europlanet 2020 Research Infrastructure, is the application of Virtual Observatory standards to planetary data, in order to increase their sharing, visualization, interoperability and combination. The VESPA main search interface already uses some tools for analysis of planetary data, whereas other developed tools are going to be integrated on VESPA, e.g. MATISSE (Multi-purpose Advanced Tool for Instruments for the Solar System Exploration). This tool works on PDS data allowing analysis and 3D visualization of hyperspectral images. It is particularly suitable for minor bodies, where data projection on the shape model is fundamental to relate data to topographic and geological context. This paper shows the new functions implemented on the MATISSE tool for the study of minor bodies, aimed at the development of derived and high-level products, such as reflectance, photometrically corrected reflectance, absorption band descriptors and spectral ratios, and at their visualization on shape models. The developed products are commonly used to analyze hyperspectral data and hence a web based tool allowing their retrieval and visualization is important to hasten and support research activity on minor bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]