Posted on 09/16/2015 1:44:15 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Explanation: What created these bright spots on Ceres? The spots were first noted as the robotic Dawn spacecraft approached Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt, in February, with the expectation that the mystery would soon be solved in higher resolution images. However, even after Dawn arrived at Ceres in March, the riddle remained. Surprisingly, although images including the featured composite taken in the last month do resolve many details inside Occator crater, they do not resolve the mystery. Another recent clue is that a faint haze develops over the crater's bright spots. Dawn is scheduled to continue to spiral down toward Ceres and scan the dwarf planet in several new ways that, it is hoped, will determine the chemical composition of the region and finally reveal the nature and history of the spots. In several years, after running out of power, Dawn will continue to orbit Ceres indefinitely, becoming an artificial satellite and an enduring monument to human exploration.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Credit and Copyright: NASA, JPL-Caltech, UCLA, MPS/DLR/IDA]
Nice big impact crater on Ceres.
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Wiki says Ceres is a dwarf planet (or a huge asteroid, depending on your point of view), orbiting the Sun within the Asteroid Belt. It's much larger than any of the rocks it shares its orbit with, massive enough for its gravity to force it into spherical shape.
Because of its gravity and the millions of rocks it orbits with, I'd guess impacts are common. The shiny spots look like evidence of a recent impact. Question is: are the shiny patches debris from an impacting ice-teroid (I'm trademarking that name) or a glimpse of what's Ceres is actually made of underneath? Maybe Ceres is a huge ice cube with a thin coating of dust, disturbed in one place by a recent impact...
That is clearly a citadel in the center and an outlying military base. :-)
Damned aliens and their Paintball.
It looks like a sunken crater.
Perhaps there is an aeons old development of a powder/rock crust that overlays sub-surface ice (Water, methane, whatever) underneath. Over millennia the ice sublimates or bleeds off, or forms compounds that cause it to lose volume, and the crust is no longer supported. An asteroid strikes the surface, the strike causes a collapse of the crust area surrounding the impact point, there is a blowout of subterranean gas that pushes out out remaining ice crystals or gas, or something that precipitates at the surface and causes that extra sparkley sugar frosting coating at the impact point, and from several nearby holes.
It looks like a sunken crater.
Perhaps there is an aeons old development of a powder/rock crust that overlays sub-surface ice (Water, methane, whatever) underneath. Over millennia the ice sublimates or bleeds off, or forms compounds that cause it to lose volume, and the crust is no longer supported, or only at points. An asteroid strikes the surface, the strike causes a collapse of the crust area surrounding the impact point, there is a blowout of subterranean gas that pushes out out remaining ice crystals or gas, or something that precipitates at the surface and causes that extra sparkley sugar frosting coating at the impact point, and from several nearby holes.
...or pigeons.
LOL
They have the Icees concession for the entire Solar System.
A freighter loaded with White-Out was headed for Alpha Centauri. Turned out the monitor screens had the needed information on them, but critical data was covered up by white out used by a really inexperienced office temp from Epsilon Eridani.
Looks like the title of the article was wrong......
The image is resolved, the mystery isn’t. :’)
There were indeed bright spots.....?
the mystery isn’t. :’)
....uh, ok :)
You might be interested in it. As for me, I haven't figured out how it works and since I live in a major metropolitan area, you can't see the stars anyway due to the surface lights..............
I know that's stupid, but what the heck, it WAS free........LOL!
I like you postings, thanks for including me.........
Yeah, I’m still on a dumb phone, and don’t want to carry around a device that’s got a learning curve, plus can beat me at chess. ;’)
I finally and reluctantly upgraded to a half tarded phone. My old stupid phone bit it. 30 bucks for that stupid phone, my new one was only 10 and it has a much better camera. Still not gonna put any info I want private on it, unlike a former secretary of state that defied congressional subpoenas.
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