The burnished white spot on Ceres that has puzzled astronomer for a X is not one but two spots , the Dawn ballistic capsule has revealed - but astronomers remain bemused as to what the spots actually are .
In 2003 and 2004 , theHubble Space Telescope took the high resolution imagesof Ceres up to that point and revealed a spot on its surface that was distinctly light than anything else . However , nothing besides its position could be shew , including how turgid the blot actually is . As Dawn go up , itconfirmed the spot ’s universe , but throw no nonliteral lighting on the topic .
Now , however , as Dawn make to go into domain around Ceres , photograph of unprecedented clarity have split the spot into two marks of unequal size . The image also divulge that the spots are smaller and much brighter than might have been call back from the pale pixels antecedently respect .
" Ceres ' vivid spot can now be determine to have a companion of lesser brightness , but apparently in the same catchment area , " UCLA ’s Professor Chris Russellannounced . " This may be pointing to a vent - like origin of the spots , but we will have to wait for estimable firmness of purpose before we can make such geological interpretations . " When the look-alike was demand on February 19 , Dawn was 46,000 km , ( 29,000 miles ) from the dwarf planet .
" The brightest spot go along to be too small to settle with our camera , but despite its sizing it is promising than anything else on Ceres . This is unfeignedly unexpected and still a mystery to us , " says Dr. Andreas Nathues of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research . While a few light patches that may include smaller white spots can be see elsewhere , it is not yet cleared if these spots are unique or the largest of a far-flung phenomenon .
credit rating : NASA / JPL - Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA . Dawn ’s view of both sides of Ceres .
Although the ice stay the most probable constituent of the dot , no one knows why it should be concentrated at these two nearby locations . However , the fact that these spots , along with their suspected counterpart , are in a basin that may be a crater is probably significant .
" During the course of the mission , the Crater will enable us to take an indirect feeling into Ceres ' interior , ” Nathues state . His confrere Michael Schäferexplains : " The path the impactors flex the dwarf satellite ’s subsurface and the way the subsurface reacts to this on long time scales allows conclusions about the material hidden beneath the topmost layer . ”
H / TSpace.com
