JPL has published an even closer look at the bright spots on Ceres.
Apart from a closer look, there isn't much new information. While looking at the picture though, I was having trouble with the perspective on the craters. If I invert/negative the image, the spots are of course black, but the craters look like craters. What gives?
"Dawn scientists can now conclude that the intense brightness of these spots is due to the reflection of sunlight by highly reflective material on the surface, possibly ice," Christopher Russell, principal investigator for the Dawn mission from the University of California, Los Angeles, said recently.
Dawn is currently about 7,200 km from the surface of Ceres. On December 8th, it will be 375 km from the surface.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Friday May 22 2015, @09:51PM
I'm going with tinfoil: Ceres, our first conspiracy theorist dwarf planet!!