Free Republic

It was only a matter of time before someone made a short video with Ceres as the star. The dwarf planet, which has been the focus of the NASA’s Dawn spacecraft of late, lies between Mars and Jupiter. With an average diameter of 590 miles, there has been plenty for Dawn to study since arriving in March 2013. NASA has taken full of advantage of the fact this is the first mission to achieve orbit around a dwarf planet – releasing scores of images of Ceres and now a nearly four minute animation that gets up close and personal.

The new space-based adventure series "The Expanse" debuts on Syfy tonight, and it's packed with high-flying action, interplanetary politics and intriguing locations. Based on the book by James S. A. Corey (a pen name for co-authors Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham), "The Expanse" takes place 200 years in the future, when humans have settled Mars and the asteroid belt. The two-night premiere event begins at 10 p.m. EST tonight (Dec. 14) and continues at the same time tomorrow (Dec. 15), but if you just can't wait, you can also watch the series' first episode online on Syfy's website, Hulu, YouTube,...