Space
Life on Ceres? Scientists Discovers Ice on Dwarf Planet's Surface
Wayne Parker
First Posted: Apr 07, 2016 09:48 AM EDT
More often than not, the good news outweighs the bad. When the IAU (International Astronomical Union) demoted Pluto in 2006 from being a "planet" to just a "dwarf planet", Ceres was astoundingly promoted from being a huge asteroid to a dwarf planet. Today, this dwarf planet becomes more and more significant.
NASA scientists have discovered the presence of ice on Ceres' surface, signifying that the dwarf planet could be hiding a huge body of water just below its frozen crust according to a news report on Yahoo News. As the Dawn spacecraft of NASA first approached Ceres, the craft detected trails of water vapor emerging from its surface.
In an interview on Scientific American, Timothy Titus, a planetary scientist of the U.S. Geological Survey, suggested that if Ceres has water in liquid form, then there could be life in the dwarf planet. "It's one of the more exciting things with these plumes, that they could be a potential exobiology target," Titus said.
In 2015, the plumes were no longer visible as soon as the probe had finally reached the dwarf planet. This created an impression that Ceres may not have held water after all.
Today, NASA scientists have recently detected the presence of water 'iced' inside the Oxo crate of Ceres. This discovery was made public by NASA during the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.
The spotted ice deposit is estimated by scientists to be younger than its eight million-year-old crater. Thus, whatever crashed into the dwarf planet, forming its crater, did not actually bring ice with it. One theory suggests that a landslide may have exposed pieces of an ice sheet.
This scientific discovery is truly exhilarating. The presence of an ice sheet in the dwarf planet could signify that it has a massive, sub-surface ocean of liquid water similar to Enceladus and Europa. As the old saying goes 'where there is water, there might be life.'
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NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone
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First Posted: Apr 07, 2016 09:48 AM EDT
More often than not, the good news outweighs the bad. When the IAU (International Astronomical Union) demoted Pluto in 2006 from being a "planet" to just a "dwarf planet", Ceres was astoundingly promoted from being a huge asteroid to a dwarf planet. Today, this dwarf planet becomes more and more significant.
NASA scientists have discovered the presence of ice on Ceres' surface, signifying that the dwarf planet could be hiding a huge body of water just below its frozen crust according to a news report on Yahoo News. As the Dawn spacecraft of NASA first approached Ceres, the craft detected trails of water vapor emerging from its surface.
In an interview on Scientific American, Timothy Titus, a planetary scientist of the U.S. Geological Survey, suggested that if Ceres has water in liquid form, then there could be life in the dwarf planet. "It's one of the more exciting things with these plumes, that they could be a potential exobiology target," Titus said.
In 2015, the plumes were no longer visible as soon as the probe had finally reached the dwarf planet. This created an impression that Ceres may not have held water after all.
Today, NASA scientists have recently detected the presence of water 'iced' inside the Oxo crate of Ceres. This discovery was made public by NASA during the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.
The spotted ice deposit is estimated by scientists to be younger than its eight million-year-old crater. Thus, whatever crashed into the dwarf planet, forming its crater, did not actually bring ice with it. One theory suggests that a landslide may have exposed pieces of an ice sheet.
This scientific discovery is truly exhilarating. The presence of an ice sheet in the dwarf planet could signify that it has a massive, sub-surface ocean of liquid water similar to Enceladus and Europa. As the old saying goes 'where there is water, there might be life.'
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone