What鈥檚 on Ceres? (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA)
What鈥檚 that shining on Ceres? NASA released the best-ever pictures of the mysterious bright spots on the dwarf planet this week, but we still don鈥檛 know what they are.
NASA鈥檚 Dawn spacecraft has been orbiting Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt, since March. Bright spots in the 90-kilometre-wide Occator crater shone out from a distance and now Dawn has dived in for a close-up view. The latest photos reveal that what initially seemed like two dots is actually a scattering of bright material set against the much darker landscape of Ceres.
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Researchers have suggested it could be icy material within the dwarf planet exposed by an impact, or even created by ice volcanoes spewing water from an ocean beneath the surface. 鈥淒awn has transformed what was so recently a few bright dots into a complex and beautiful, gleaming landscape,鈥� says Marc Rayman, Dawn鈥檚 chief engineer.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淏right spot mystery continues鈥�
