
In late May 2010 Ceres shines at magnitude 7.6, bright enough to see easily in any telescope or in well-supported binoculars. It looks just like a star, so you will need a large, detailed finder chart for Ceres to tell which of the tiny points in the area is it.
If you note the surrounding star field, you can easily observe the asteroid's motion against the background stars from one night to the next, or even (with care) from one hour to the next.

Ceres reaches opposition on June 18th at magnitude 7.2. Prior to that date, the asteroid is best observed after midnight.
During July Ceres gradually fades, but it also rises earlier each night and becomes ever higher in the evening sky.
It's still 8th magnitude in August, when it's high in good view by the time the sky grows dark.
Make the acquaintance of Ceres, follow it along, and when it becomes famous, you can say that you knew it quite personally back in the day.
My impressio is that not as much is known about Ceres as say Enceladus. The Images I’ve seen of it are what I’d expect from an outer Neptunian Moon! I’m glad to hear that there is going to be a dedicated satellite mission!
I tried “Ceres Enceladus Triton” on http://www.wolframalpha.com and it came up with an interesting comparison as well as images!