Posted on 05/25/2015 1:34:35 PM PDT by BenLurkin
As Dawn descends toward its closest orbit around Ceres, it has been imaging the spots along the way, gradually giving us a less pixelated view of the large crater containing what now appear to be several bright spots reflecting the sun back at us. What once looked to be a large bright spot near the center of the dwarf planet soon split into two smaller, nearly adjacent spots upon closer inspection. In the latest view from Dawn, shot on May 16, those two large spots seem to be resolving into several smaller bright spots.
The leading guess from NASA scientists at the moment is that we're seeing some sort of natural reflective surface like ice on the surface of a body that's expected to harbor quite a bit of frozen water beneath its rocky shell.
However, NASA has asked the public for an opinion via online surveys at least twice in the last several months, and so far most humans don't seem to believe (or want to believe, perhaps) that those spots are something as common as patches of ice. In an ongoing survey on the Dawn mission site, "other" is the most popular choice. In another, earlier survey, "frozen lakes" come in second to "underground light soil uncovered by recent meteor impacts." "Something completely different" is the third most popular choice.
While closer views of the spots reveal that they may be smaller and less monolithic than at first glance, they're also getting arguably weirder.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnet.com ...
Thanks BenLurkin, extra to APoD, but no pics?!>
"The new image was taken on May 16, 2015 from a distance of 4,500 miles (7,200 km) and has a resolution of 2,250 feet (700 m) per pixel."
http://www.sci-news.com/space/science-bright-spots-ceres-02831.html
Ice from a comet impact. That’s my best guess.
I really want to know what the hell those are.
The ice theory is taking a hit because there’s data showing it being reflective in shadow.
Does anyone know how big an area that is?
Nasa asks for the public’s help to identify mysterious bright spots on Ceres
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/nasa-asks-for-the-publics-help-to-identify-mysterious-bright-spots-on-ceres-10274348.html
Obviously one of our new Alien Overlords
left the lights on when they left the
habitat...
Secondly they are oriented JUST like the pyramids
on Mars. Could it be possible? Yes it could.
I see. So they have their own planet.
If it were a reflection, it would brighten and dim rapidly as it turned. It is either a very white surface reflecting light or it is actual artificial light.
I'm curious if the camera and length of exposure is making these spots look brighter than they really are.
Yeah I’m guessing ice or something like titanium oxide which is abundant in space.
4500 miles and a resolution of 700m per pixel?!
spy satellites from the early 70s could take pictures from 22,000 miles and had a resolution of < 1m per pixel. ONE METER.
40 year old tech was 490,000x (700x700) better?!
reference: http://www.space.com/12996-secret-spy-satellites-declassified-nro.html
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