Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

NASA Reveals Findings from Journey to Mysterious World of Ceres

posted by chromas on Tuesday August 11 2020, @10:50AM   Printer-friendly

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Soycow_Lover:

Nasa reveals findings from journey to mysterious world at the edge of solar system:

Nasa has revealed its observations from a trip to Ceres[*], the mysterious world hovering at the edge of our solar system.

Ceres is a dwarf planet, and the largest of the huge number of objects that are found in the asteroid belt at the far reaches of our planetary neighbourhood.

Now scientists using data from Nasa observations of the world have revealed a host of new information about that distant dwarf planet.

[...] "Long believed to be a primitive body, Ceres is now an ocean world with deep brines at a regional and potentially global scale," wrote Nasa's Julie Castillo-Rogez, a planetary scientist who did not work on the study. She urged more research and a follow-up mission that could study the evolution of the planet – and its "potential habitability".

[...] The research shows that Ceres is an ocean world, and that it may have been geologically active in the recent past.

And it also adds yet more wonder to the planet, suggesting that the various glowing parts of the surface were formed from different sources.

The findings are discussed in seven new papers published in Nature journals, offering a variety of new information about the dwarf planet.

[*] From the Ceres entry on Wikipedia:

Ceres (/ˈsɪəriːz/;[16] minor-planet designation: 1 Ceres) is the largest object in the main asteroid belt that lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. With a diameter of 940 km (580 mi), Ceres is both the largest of the asteroids and the only dwarf planet inside Neptune's orbit. It is the 25th-largest body in the Solar System within the orbit of Neptune.

Journal References:

  • P. Schenk, J. Scully, D. Buczkowski, et al. Impact heat driven volatile redistribution at Occator crater on Ceres as a comparative planetary process [open], Nature Communications (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17184-7)
  • B. E. Schmidt, H. G. Sizemore, K. H. G. Hughson, et al. Post-impact cryo-hydrologic formation of small mounds and hills in Ceres’s Occator crater, Nature Geoscience (DOI: 10.1038/s41561-020-0581-6)
  • M. C. De Sanctis, E. Ammannito, A. Raponi, et al. Fresh emplacement of hydrated sodium chloride on Ceres from ascending salty fluids, Nature Astronomy (DOI: 10.1038/s41550-020-1138-8
  • A. Nathues, N. Schmedemann, G. Thangjam, et al. Recent cryovolcanic activity at Occator crater on Ceres, Nature Astronomy (DOI: 10.1038/s41550-020-1146-8)
  • J. E. C. Scully, P. M. Schenk, J. C. Castillo-Rogez, et al. The varied sources of faculae-forming brines in Ceres’ Occator crater emplaced via hydrothermal brine effusion [open], Nature Communications (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-15973-8)
  • R. S. Park, A. S. Konopliv, A. I. Ermakov, et al. Evidence of non-uniform crust of Ceres from Dawn’s high-resolution gravity data, Nature Astronomy (DOI: 10.1038/s41550-020-1019-1)
  • C. A. Raymond, A. I. Ermakov, J. C. Castillo-Rogez, et al. Impact-driven mobilization of deep crustal brines on dwarf planet Ceres, Nature Astronomy (DOI: 10.1038/s41550-020-1168-2

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
NASA Reveals Findings from Journey to Mysterious World of Ceres | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 18 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday August 11 2020, @12:54PM (6 children)

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Tuesday August 11 2020, @12:54PM (#1034879)

    They had me thinking Ceres was Charon with that "edge of the solar system" bit...

    --
    🌻🌻 [google.com]
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +1  
       Interesting=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Interesting' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  
    Total Score:   3  

  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by progo on Tuesday August 11 2020, @02:18PM (5 children)

    by progo (6356) on Tuesday August 11 2020, @02:18PM (#1034915) Homepage

    Pluto-Charon is also not at the edge of our solar system.

    • (Score: 5, Funny) by barbara hudson on Tuesday August 11 2020, @03:01PM (4 children)

      by barbara hudson (6443) <barbara.Jane.hudson@icloud.com> on Tuesday August 11 2020, @03:01PM (#1034937) Journal
      Still pretty damn far out, especially when it's at its furthest. I'm just wondering, now that nasa has decided to stop using the common names of objects when they give offenders, such as the Eskimo Galaxy, what are they going to call Uranus? Or a black hole? Or a dwarf planet? Asteroid? The dominant star in a binary? Should an unstable star be called bipolar? But don't all stars have two poles? Isn't calling the stars big gasbags insulting and fat-shaming? Is saying Venus is really really hot sexist ? Is Marvin Gaye?
      --
      SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.

      • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 11 2020, @03:31PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 11 2020, @03:31PM (#1034957)

        Front Hole Planet. Angry Tranny Galaxy. Non-Binary Star.

      • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday August 11 2020, @03:45PM (2 children)

        by JoeMerchant (3937) on Tuesday August 11 2020, @03:45PM (#1034968)

        Marvin is a Martian, and very VERY ANGRY! Is it politically correct / allowed to be ANGRY anymore?

        --
        🌻🌻 [google.com]

        • (Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Tuesday August 11 2020, @04:05PM (1 child)

          by barbara hudson (6443) <barbara.Jane.hudson@icloud.com> on Tuesday August 11 2020, @04:05PM (#1034979) Journal
          Marvin is a robot, and he's very dep. Are we allowed to say depressed any more? Be kind of depressing if we weren't.
          --
          SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.