Both Vesta and Ceres are situated in the asteroid field between Mars and Jupiter. Dawn's goal is to investigate in detail the two asteroids which are the largest protoplanets still intact. Protoplanets are small celestial bodies that show the beginning formation of a planet. These are differentiated objects which means, that these protoplanets underwent a process where their interior got hot enough to melt separating elements within into layers.
Vesta is a dry, differentiated object that has a rocky surface which resemble some features found on the Earth.
Last year, data from the Dawn mission revealed that Vesta may be the smallest terrestrial planet in the solar system. Meteorites found on Earth believed to have come from Vesta has shown extensive igneous processing not much different from the magma rocks found on Earth. This process makes them closely resemble terrestrial igneous rocks.
