The discovery of a bright spot on Ceres has give rise to lots of hypothesis . And now we ’ve learned something novel : it has a friend . The second spot is not quite as bright , but still weirdly broody compare to the rest of the dwarf major planet . The geological mystery story keep getting more interesting !
Top simulacrum : From exposure taken on February 19 , 2015 at 46,000 kilometers aside ( 29,000 miles ) , Dawn can finally see that the orphic bright spot on Ceres is in a basin , and has a small , dimmer companion . Credit : NASA / JPL - Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA
The late round of photographs was taken by Dawn on February 19 , 2015 when the ballistic capsule was still 46,000 kilometers off ( 29,000 miles ) from thedwarf major planet . It let on not justthe bright touch that has been fire meditation for years , but now our mental imagery resolution is nonplus good enough to fleck a secondly little and dimmer bright spot apparently in the same basin as the main attractor .
https://gizmodo.com/the-complete-history-of-ceres-the-planet-between-m-1687511548
https://gizmodo.com/just-what-are-those-white-spots-on-ceres-1684160250
Uncropped view of Ceres taken on February 19 , 2015 . look-alike credit : NASA / JPL - Caltech / UCLA / MPS/ DLR / IDA/
What could these bright speckle be?Chris Russell , primary investigator for the Dawn missionary work , theorizes :
“ Ceres ’ lustrous bit can now be see to have a companion of less luminousness , but apparently in the same basin . This may be direct to a volcano - like parentage of the spots , but we will have to waitress for better resolution before we can make such geologic interpretation . ”
Even though the resolution is finally good enough that we can identify a smaller , dimmer companion - stain , we still ca n’t see well enough to make solid interpretations . When meditate wildly about the rootage of these white lentigo , we thought they could be evidence of cyrovolcanism or even wintry geyser , but were scattered how such an isolated , small world could be thermodynamically participating enough to generate either of them . Even though that ’s the current best - supposition , the whodunit of how it could even occur still stands . The competing theory that Ceres has an frigid crust numb by dust but exposed in wallop crater is still in play , and will be until we can see these mystic features in enough detail to get an existent shape . I admit it : I ’m totally jazzed that we ’ve become such a clamorous mystery gaze right at us , daring us to figure it out with ever more obvious clue !
The space vehicle shoot one full revolution of Ceres , which guide about nine hours . effigy credit entry : NASA / JPL - Caltech / UCLA / MPS/ DLR / IDA/
After adjusting its approach shot to correct fora cosmic ray strike its ion drive and knock it off schedule , the Dawn ballistic capsule is due to arrive in field around Ceres on March 6 , 2015 . As it keeps getting closer , the photographs of the largest object in the asteroid beltjust keepgettingbetter . Due to its spiralling glide slope course , this is the closest Dawn will be to Ceres untilearly April . Our prison term to speculate is coming to an conclusion as more observations swarm in ; this may be your last probability to make a guesswork about the mystery of the shining spot .
https://gizmodo.com/dawn-on-alternate-approach-to-ceres-after-cosmic-ray-hi-1676665439
Dawn ’s trajectory as it closes in on Ceres includes break points to make observations , wrick to shine those notice home , reorient , and go along thrusting . Image citation : NASA / JPL
CeresDawn
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