Ceres' Brightest Spots Are Salt; Likely Due To Subsurface Water!

originally posted by: wildespace
I don't know about a subsurface ocean, but there are permanently-shadowed craters on Ceres that may hold water ice.

www.youtube.com...

Permanently shadowed regions capable of accumulating surface ice were identified in the northern hemisphere of Ceres using images taken by NASA’s Dawn mission combined with sophisticated computer modeling of illumination.

I wouldn't be surprised, as:

1) H2O is common throughout much of the Solar System, albeit mostly in frozen or gaseous form.

and

2) Water ice has been found in permanently-shadowed craters on the Moon and even on Mercury.

Article: photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov...

At the poles of Ceres, scientists have found craters that are permanently in shadow (indicated by blue markings). Such craters are called "cold traps" if they remain below about minus 240 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 151 degrees Celsius). These shadowed craters may have been collecting ice for billions of years because they are so cold.

Here's a site with all the latest Ceres images, updated almost daily: dawn.jpl.nasa.gov...

I find Ceres' surface fascinating, and never tire looking at those images.

Yeah. I stopped getting excited long ago about water being found elsewhere. It sens like it's pretty common .

Now, that Ceres video. I'm assuming that's a 3d animation? Otherwise that one of the best videos I've ever seen of another body.