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Bright Spots on Ceres Likely Ice, Not Cryovolcanoes
Ceres rotates in this sped-up movie comprised of images taken by NASA’s Dawn mission during its approach to the dwarf planet. The images were taken on Feb. 19, 2015, from a distance of nearly 29,000 miles (46,000 kilometers). Dawn observed Ceres for a full rotation of the dwarf planet, which lasts about nine hours. The images have a resolution of 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) per pixel. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
As the Dawn spacecraft prepares to enter orbit around Ceres on March 6, the science team provided the latest images and a mission preview during a mission briefing on March 2. The images released yesterday show more of those unusual bright spots and lots of craters, and feature two new global views of Ceres: one spinning globe, and a a mosaic of a flat map-view of Ceres’ surface.
But the most-talked about feature is the 90-km-wide (57-mile) crater with two bright spots.
“These spots are extremely surprising and have been puzzling to the team and everyone that has seen them,” said Deputy Principal Investigator Carol Raymond. “The team is really, really excited about this feature because it is unique in the solar system.”
Raymond added that the team will be revealing the true nature of spots with the public in real time as the spacecraft gets closer and is able to make a determination.
So what is the leading theory on the bright spots?
(…)
Read the rest of Bright Spots on Ceres Likely Ice, Not Cryovolcanoes (995 words)
© nancy for Universe Today, 2015. |
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Source: http://www.universetoday.com/119235/bright-spots-on-ceres-likely-ice-not-cryovolcanoes/
