Well hello there! Glad you were in the neighbourhood and had a few minutes to drop by. Always a treat to see you. Load up your coffee mug and snag a virtual doughnut or muffin, why don't'cha? Say, got an interesting mystery in outer space to tell you about...
NASA's Dawn spacecraft is arriving at its second and final objective, asteroid 1 Ceres, on March 6th.That could be pretty close to today! Robert Mase, who manages the mission at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, says Dawn will be captured into orbit at 4:20 a.m. (12:20 Universal Time). That's the first critical step in what promises to be an intensive, 16-month-long investigation.
NASA's Dawn spacecraft recorded this view of asteroid 1 Ceres on February 19th while still 29,000 miles (46,000 km) from its destination. Scientists were surprised to see the pair of bright spots inside a medium-size crater.
But images recently captured by the spacecraft's German-built camera already have mission scientists scratching their collective heads. Tucked inside a 57-mile-wide crater are two tiny spots far brighter than their surroundings. Images show a few other bright spots on Ceres. It's not yet clear what they are — the spots were smaller than the camera's resolution when the camera took its snapshots — but there's already plenty of speculation about them.
With an average diameter of 590 miles (950 kilometres), Ceres is the largest denizen of the asteroid belt. In fact, by the International Astronomical Union's definition, it qualifies as a dwarf planet. Unlike most asteroids, however, Ceres is thought to contain 25% water by mass — likely existing as a deep ice mantle overlying a rock-and-metal core. The surface we see might be little more than a veneer of rock and dust.
These bright spots "appear at low latitudes and stand out against the dark surface," notes Carol Raymond, Dawn's deputy project scientist. The pair in the crater are "extremely surprising to the team."
NASA's Dawn spacecraft recorded this view of asteroid 1 Ceres on February 19th while still 29,000 miles (46,000 km) from its destination. Scientists were surprised to see the pair of bright spots inside a medium-size crater.
But images recently captured by the spacecraft's German-built camera already have mission scientists scratching their collective heads. Tucked inside a 57-mile-wide crater are two tiny spots far brighter than their surroundings. Images show a few other bright spots on Ceres. It's not yet clear what they are — the spots were smaller than the camera's resolution when the camera took its snapshots — but there's already plenty of speculation about them.
With an average diameter of 590 miles (950 kilometres), Ceres is the largest denizen of the asteroid belt. In fact, by the International Astronomical Union's definition, it qualifies as a dwarf planet. Unlike most asteroids, however, Ceres is thought to contain 25% water by mass — likely existing as a deep ice mantle overlying a rock-and-metal core. The surface we see might be little more than a veneer of rock and dust.
These bright spots "appear at low latitudes and stand out against the dark surface," notes Carol Raymond, Dawn's deputy project scientist. The pair in the crater are "extremely surprising to the team."
She says the most likely cause is either fresh exposures of ice from recent impacts or small eruptions of slushy ice (cryovolcanism) from the interior. However, she notes, there's no indication that the spots are high-standing piles of erupted material.
Adding to the mystery is the fact that ESA's Herschel space spacecraft detected water vapor around Ceres when it scrutinized the big body in 2011, 2012, and 2013. But the detection was intermittent — and it now seems that water vapor was present when the two spots were in view. This bright pairing is "unique in the solar system," Raymond says, an enigmatic feature that "really has us on the edge of our seats."
Adding to the mystery is the fact that ESA's Herschel space spacecraft detected water vapor around Ceres when it scrutinized the big body in 2011, 2012, and 2013. But the detection was intermittent — and it now seems that water vapor was present when the two spots were in view. This bright pairing is "unique in the solar system," Raymond says, an enigmatic feature that "really has us on the edge of our seats."
Could this be an alien encounter? We'll have to wait for the next set of pictures and data arriving from the Dawn spacecraft.
Maybe it's a Tim Horton's franchise already set up! Dang...someone may have beaten me to it! Get your methane icecap, here!
Maybe it's a Tim Horton's franchise already set up! Dang...someone may have beaten me to it! Get your methane icecap, here!
See ya, eh!
Bob
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