Life On Asteroids

reply to post by Thorneblood

Aren't we just arguing semantics now?
If an icy body contains water frost and temporary polar caps then how is that not an icy surface?

No semantics at all. Hydrated minerals are not ice.

If there is liquid water under the surface then what better simplistic term would you prefer to use besides ocean? Pool? Lake? Pond?

Puddle. An ocean would imply a significant expanse of water.

I'm having trouble imagining how Ceres could have liquid water, even under the surface. It's too far from the sun to be warmed-up, it doesn't have any tidal interactions like Europa, Ganymede, Titan or Enceladus (and I'm willing to bet that Pluto & Charon will be added to that list), and it's not big enough to have sustained internal heating.