Posted on 12/09/2015 12:54:48 PM PST by BenLurkin
Observations made by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, which has been orbiting the dwarf planet since March, suggest that Ceres' many bright spots could be made primarily of hydrated magnesium sulfates. Here on Earth, magnesium sulfate is sold as Epsom salt, a popular home remedy for a variety of ailments, including sore feet and joint inflammation. Scientists released an amazing new video of Ceres' bright spots in crystal clarity along with their new findings today (Dec. 9).
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These whitish patches are mostly associated with impact craters, the team found, and they're much brighter than Ceres' surface as a whole, which is about as reflective as freshly poured asphalt. The spots, by contrast, range in brightness from that of concrete to the reflectivity of ocean ice.
The nature of the bright spots has spurred a great deal of speculation over the past year or so, with most scientists positing that they're composed of water ice or some type of salt. The framing camera data bolster the salt hypothesis, Nathues and his colleagues report in the new study, which was published online today (Dec. 9) in the journal Nature.
Researchers studied images captured by Dawn's framing camera (FC), which covers wavelengths ranging from visible light through the near-infrared. The instrument's data can shed light on Ceres' surface composition, based on reflectance characteristics, NASA officials have said.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
Bath salts? The kind you get high on?
Goody. I can go to Ceres and soak my feet.
It is Ceres, but is it also Hugh?
Well, that’s relaxing.
Get some water and compost up there and grow some tomatoes!
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