Bright spots on the dwarf planet Ceres continue to puzzle researchers

http://phys.org/news/2016-05-life-ceres-mysterious-bright-baffle.html

by dnetesn • 10 years ago

46 14 10 years ago

dexwiz• 10 years ago

Holy Clickbait Batman! Changes in the bright spot might be a plume of volatile chemicals, and Ceres was water. Thus, there might be life on Ceres! Where is my Jump to Conclusions mat?

ianai• 10 years ago

I thought it was already "concluded" that the bright spots were salts?

scrumper• 10 years ago

Shame about the title, it's not really about that. The mystery is compelling enough and it's worth a quick read. There's no suggestion that the bright spots are evidence for life. Instead, they may be an indication that Ceres is geologically active and the variation may be due to the presence of volatile compounds. Both of those things together, with Ceres's hypothesized water content, may make it a place where some of the necessary precursors for terrestrial life exist.

mcbits2• 10 years ago

Ceres has a lot of interesting features: the hexagonal craters, the big mountain sitting next to a big hole, the smooth and reflective mountain and crater walls... Is Ceres a giant crystal?

Aelinsaar• 10 years ago

Is that really possible? For something so massive?

mcbits2• 10 years ago

I don't know, probably not, unless it somehow managed to cool unusually slowly after it formed. But it seems like every planetary body has some extreme differentiation from the others, so maybe?

nickpsecurity• 10 years ago

Actually, I have a retrieval mission in the works for something that answers your question. ;)

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/2012/10/a-planet-made...

lisivka• 10 years ago

For me, it looks like big mountain is popped up from the hole. IMHO, it happen when Ceres was still cooling after forming.

swamp40• 10 years ago

"Then the team noticed that they were connected to periods of time when the bright spots in the Occator crater were visible from the Earth."

Maybe they know when they are being watched?

colanderman• 10 years ago

Note that for Ceres, "visible from the Earth" means roughly "visible from the sun".

ChuckMcM• 10 years ago

Clearly its the belters :-)

More seriously this has been the second coolest space thing in recent times (the first coolest being the Pluto flyby). It is so annoying that we can't just go out there with all the tools we can think of, land there, and have a look around.

cfontes• 10 years ago

Thought the same thing, awesome book collection...

nxcho• 10 years ago

It looks like a pimple. Clearly Ceres has hit puberty.

ionwake• 10 years ago

Is the brightness greater than that possible by refraction of the sunlight?

Can we tell if the light is generated or reflected?

Bright spots on the dwarf planet Ceres continue to puzzle researchers

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