Strange shiny, conical, enormously tall mountain on Ceres

The Dawn spacecraft has returned some of the highest-resolution images of the surface of Ceres yet, and it seems the closer look we get, the more mysteries we find. The latest batch of images contain an extremely strange structure on the surface.



I'm genuinely at a loss on this one, guys. That is definitely the oddest thing I've ever seen in space. This shiny "Lonely Mountain", as it has been dubbed, since it is not part of a mountain range, is 4 miles tall.

a reply to: AshOnMyTomatoes
It made me think of those ice spikes that sometimes grow on ice cubes and on sheets of flat ice when conditions are just right.
Check out the picture of the inverted cone one from the birdbath in this wiki Wiki: Ice Spikes, perhaps in space or without much atmosphere, things like this happen.

originally posted by: evc1shop
a reply to: AshOnMyTomatoes
It made me think of those ice spikes that sometimes grow on ice cubes and on sheets of flat ice when conditions are just right.
Check out the picture of the inverted cone one from the birdbath in this wiki Wiki: Ice Spikes, perhaps in space or without much atmosphere, things like this happen.

I'm thinking we're starting to piece together more about exactly what Ceres is. I suspect it is crystalline ice underneath the powdery surface. The "bright spots", and now the "Lonely Mountain", are places where that ice is peeking through the powder. Perhaps the mountain's slope is too steep for the surface powder to stick.

a reply to: AshOnMyTomatoes

Cool news from Ceres. S&F. What does Nasa say is it really ice?

a reply to: AshOnMyTomatoes

Crystal. Humongous crystal.

originally posted by: AshOnMyTomatoes

To me (and I am no expert) the height of the "mountain" looks to be roughly the same as the depth of the crater next to it, with similar striations. I wonder if that will have any relevance IF we ever discover what it is.

I love these glimpses we are getting of this ever more intriguing, distant world...

Clearly metal object of some sort. Looks a lot like the metal they use on probes. I can't believe it, we are finally close to the question "are we alone" being answered. If we didn't send that probe there, someone else did

its a splayed out skirt from a dalek!

originally posted by: WP4YT
Clearly metal object of some sort. Looks a lot like the metal they use on probes. I can't believe it, we are finally close to the question "are we alone" being answered. If we didn't send that probe there, someone else did

Please explain exactly how you come to the conclusion that it's "clearly metal".

a reply to: WP4YT

Great observation. I agree, I looks like it was carved and flipped out of the terra firma like the top to a jack-o-lantern.

Whatever it is, it's beautiful. I wish we could land a rover-esque type vehicle on the surface of Ceres and explore.

You know what the first thought that popped into my head? A diamond! perhaps the core if a large celestial object that had disintegrated, drifted in space for a time and became part of the debris that formed the Dwarf Planet.

Now THAT would surely drive the privateer space programs at a considerable rate lol.

I think your re9ly was aimed at me, the guy you quoted claimed it was metal. Anyway, I thought the same as you at first but the shape of the bottom of the hole and that of the top of the mountain are different.

C,mon it's a crater, not a mountain and easily determined if you check the light and shadows in nearby craters with elevated centres. My thought is it's a form of glass created in the heat of a massive high speed impact which is angled such that any loose material like dust simply slides to the bottom keeping the 'glass' exposed.

All theory of course

originally posted by: Pilgrum
C,mon it's a crater, not a mountain and easily determined if you check the light and shadows in nearby craters with elevated centres. My thought is it's a form of glass created in the heat of a massive high speed impact which is angled such that any loose material like dust simply slides to the bottom keeping the 'glass' exposed.

All theory of course

I agree. It looks like a crater to me.

My god, its full of stars...

a reply to: introvert
I am in with you guys My first thought was crater

originally posted by: WP4YT
Clearly metal object of some sort.

Because it's shiney?

Looks a lot like the metal they use on probes.

Because it's shiney?

I can't believe it, we are finally close to the question "are we alone" being answered. If we didn't send that probe there, someone else did

And here we've taken a massive leap into the deep end for absolutely no reason.

a reply to: AshOnMyTomatoes

Is there any chance what so ever, that this mountain like structure is some sort of icecano? Perhaps the impact of whatever hit the crater site nearby drove the pressure level subsurface to spike, and this caused an extrusion of ice to blast forth from beneath the surface, and form an upside down icicle?

originally posted by: WP4YT
Clearly metal object of some sort. Looks a lot like the metal they use on probes. I can't believe it, we are finally close to the question "are we alone" being answered. If we didn't send that probe there, someone else did

Here is a picture of the same feature taken about 2 months ago from a different angle (and a more oblique angle). It looks to be a conical rocky mountain with maybe some high-albedo material (ice? salts? minerals?) at its base.

Full image PIA19629:


Cropped image:


Source:
photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov...