Galt's Gulch

Dawn spacecraft image of mysterious bright spots on Ceres

Posted by freedomforall 8 years, 10 months ago to Science
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""The new images show the bright spots in much greater detail. They’re located inside a crater estimated to be six miles across. Before, the probe’s camera could only resolve two spots on the surface, but now there are at least eight distinct points of light and possibly more. Also featured in the images is an unusual mountain with steep slopes that juts up unexpectedly from an otherwise smooth are of Ceres
SOURCE URL: http://www.geek.com/science/dawn-spacecraft-snaps-best-image-yet-of-mysterious-bright-spots-on-ceres-1626070/

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  • Posted by scojohnson 8 years, 10 months ago
    at that distance from the sun, pretty much anything is frozen... frozen methane, frozen nitrogen, frozen water, frozen metal, etc.

    Not a stretch for an iron-core asteroid to have impacted, heat generated would have melted the core and it would have settled into the bottom of the crater, frozen, and now a nice shiny surface to reflect.

    Big deal.
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  • Posted by Herb7734 8 years, 10 months ago
    I'm in wonder at the breathtaking detail of the picture. To me, the lights look more reflective than being their own origin. But then, the question becomes, reflective of what?
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  • Posted by johnpe1 8 years, 10 months ago
    this is the kind of stuff which makes me so excited
    about NASA. . a dollar in and a thousand out, from
    incentivized invention and development. . Super!!! -- j
    .
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  • Posted by $ Olduglycarl 8 years, 10 months ago
    It will be interesting to see how NASA spins this one........That is not to say that anyone else has an answer but frequently NASA doesn't give us the whole story. I am surprised that we are allowed to see these spots.
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    • Posted by $ jdg 8 years, 10 months ago
      NASA actually has a quite nice "Astronomy Picture of the Day" web page. Because without their fan community, their funding would be cut.
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  • Posted by wiggys 8 years, 10 months ago
    all those spots are the camps that house all of the people who periodically fly to earth and are the flying sauces that people see. their aircraft is completely made of fiber glass and that is why they don't show up on radar. or maybe that is where the chinese have set up their space station.
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