Ceres' Mysterious Bright Spots May Be Light Reflected by Ice

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft is still getting itself into position for a 16-month study of the dwarf planet Ceres, the largest body in the asteroid belt, but scientists already are delving into photos taken for navigation purposes to learn more about mysterious bright white spots on Ceres’ surface.

Newly released pictures, taken when Dawn was about 4,500 miles from Ceres, confirm that the bright areas are patches of sunlight bouncing off some very reflective material on the surface, such as ice.

Dawn arrived at Ceres on March 6, its second destination in the main asteroid belt located between Mars and Jupiter. It has been using its ion propulsion system to gradually lower its orbit.

Scientists suspect Ceres may have once had an underground ocean that later froze.  Europe’s Herschel telescope last year detected water vapor around Ceres, a clue that impacting bodies may periodically send plumes of watery material shooting into space. Dawn will attempt to confirm those findings.

From Discovery News