Ceres NASA, ESA, J. Parker (Southwest Research Institute), P. Thomas (Cornell University), and L. McFadden (University of Maryland, College Park)
Posted on 01/26/2014 7:31:00 PM PST by SunkenCiv
And it's actually (relatively) nearby.
This is poor, unfortunate Ceres. Discovered in 1801, it was at first called a planet, then soon classified as an asteroid, and recently as a dwarf planet, not quite qualifying for real planet status despite residing in the solar system's asteroid belt. But now it can feel special: the Herschel Telescope has, the for the first time, detected water on the lil' planet--probably a whole lot of it, too.
The telescope, using infrared vision, detected a signature of water vapor from Ceres. The researchers think when the 590-mile-wide Ceres moves closer to the sun, part of its icy surface (something never conclusively proven to exist before now) is being melted, and that Herschel picked it up. How much ice, then, is in the surface? To put it in context: if it was melted, it would be more fresh water than is available on all of Earth.
Serendipitously, NASA already has a space probe, Dawn, in the area, and it'll be heading to Ceres next for a closer look at the surface in spring of 2015.
(Excerpt) Read more at popsci.com ...
Ceres NASA, ESA, J. Parker (Southwest Research Institute), P. Thomas (Cornell University), and L. McFadden (University of Maryland, College Park)
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Can we direct it’s path into Mars? To help terraform Mars?
Can we direct it’s path into Mars? To help terraform Mars?
Serendipitously?
Dawn so ugly she gotta sneak up on an asteroid full of water.
It’s nearly 600 miles in diameter, so, not at this time. :’) And adding its mass to Mars wouldn’t amount to much. Mars has about 1/8th the mass of Earth, and Ceres’ is .00015 the mass of Earth. Ceres is one third of the mass of the entire asteroid belt, so adding all those to Mars as well wouldn’t amount to much (.00045).
Maybe we should be talking to this guy Herschel ...
I’ve read we have to be careful looking at the pictures you post. 8^)
That’s disappointing. Well if Terra-forming Mars was easy, everyone would be doing it.
That’s disappointing. Well if Terra-forming Mars was easy, everyone would be doing it.
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I’ve read that the average distance between the asteroids is about a million miles.
Not exactly the rock strewn field of rubble often artistically portrayed.
Have to remelt the martian core and hope it develops a working magnetic field first.
If he can pick up this dwarf planet . . . he's one scary dude.
 This is Hugh |
 and Ceres. |
Or it becomes a great place for an interplanetary way station. Past Mars, not in Jupiter’s radiation field, low gravity, and now we know it has water.
Well if the Artists drew it that way they would run out of paper!
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