Ceres: The 'Dwarf Planet' Spawns Giant Mystery - New Images Just Released (+Video)
Ceres: The ‘Dwarf Planet’ Spawns Giant Mystery – New Images Just Released
First classified a planet, then an asteroid and then a “dwarf planet” with some traits of a moon—the more scientists learn about Ceres, the weirder it becomes.
And new observations of the sphere of rock and ice circling our Sun between Mars and Jupiter have added to the mystery, researchers said Monday.
Astrophysicists have been looking to a $473-million (446-million-euro) mission to test theories that Ceres is a water-rich planetary “embryo”—a relic from the birth of the Solar System some 4.5 billion years ago.
But an early batch of data from NASA’s Dawn probe, unveiled at a conference of the European Geosciences Union (EGU), may have made the Ceres riddle even greater.
In orbit around Ceres since March 6 after a seven-and-a-half-year trek, Dawn peered at two bright spots on its surface deemed to be telltales of its chemical and physical ID.
But instead of explaining the spots, analysis found the two seemed to “behave distinctly differently,” said Federico Tosi, who works on Dawn’s Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIR).
While Spot 1 is colder than its immediate surroundings, Spot 5 is not.
One picture, as seen by the human eye, shows Ceres as a “dark and brownish” ball with both white spots clearly visible.
But in thermal images, Spot 1 becomes a dark spot on a reddish ball, indicating it was cooler than the rest of the surface,.
The “biggest surprise” was that Spot 5 simply disappeared on the thermal image.
“
For sure, we have bright spots on the surface of Ceres which, at least from a thermal perspective, seem to behave in different ways.” say scientists from the Max Planck Institute.
Read more here: http://phys.org/news/2015-04-dwarf-planet-ceres-spawns-giant.html
Dawn’s Ceres Color Map Reveals Surface Diversity http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4548
http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/First_Color_Map_Ceres.asp
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
Credit: NASA/JPL
Anyone can join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.
"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.
Please Help Support BeforeitsNews by trying our Natural Health Products below!
Order by Phone at 888-809-8385 or online at https://mitocopper.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST
Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomic.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST
Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomics.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST
Humic & Fulvic Trace Minerals Complex - Nature's most important supplement! Vivid Dreams again!
HNEX HydroNano EXtracellular Water - Improve immune system health and reduce inflammation.
Ultimate Clinical Potency Curcumin - Natural pain relief, reduce inflammation and so much more.
MitoCopper - Bioavailable Copper destroys pathogens and gives you more energy. (See Blood Video)
Oxy Powder - Natural Colon Cleanser! Cleans out toxic buildup with oxygen!
Nascent Iodine - Promotes detoxification, mental focus and thyroid health.
Smart Meter Cover - Reduces Smart Meter radiation by 96%! (See Video).