Ceres

Today on March 6, 2015 the spacecraft Dawn launched by NASA in 2007 reached the dwarf planet Ceres in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It is the first mission to use ion propulsion to travel the 3 billion miles distance to Ceres.  Ceres was discovered in 1801 by Giuseppe Piazzi. Ceres is so large that it encompasses about one-fourth of the estimated total mass of all the asteroids in the asteroid belt. Today, it’s classified as a dwarf planet.

Ceres is the only one of Rome's many agricultural deities.  The Romans saw her as the counterpart of the Greek goddess Demeter, whose mythology and cult was introduced in the Roman art and literature.  Ceres was credited with the discovery of wheat (Latin far), the yoking of oxen and ploughing, the sowing, protection and nourishing of the young seed, and the gift of agriculture to humankind.

As much of Rome's grain was imported from territories of Magna Graecia, Romans considered Sicily as Ceres' "earthly home".  From the end of the 3rd century BC, Demeter's temple at Enna, served both deities and was considered as Ceres' oldest, and most important cult center.