All together, DAWN's findings confirm that Vesta is actually a protoplanet rather than a typical asteroid. The planet-forming process separated Vesta into an iron core, a mantle, and a crust.
The giant planet Jupiter prevented Vesta from completing the planet-forming process, however. Jupiter's massive gravity disturbed the orbits of nearby bodies like Vesta, causing collisions and forever altering the objects within the asteroid belt.
Vesta is like a snapshot of a planet in formation, frozen in time. Scientists study Vesta to learn more about the early days of the objects in our solar system.
Click the play button to view a video about Vesta's internal structure.