Ceres Comes into View | One Mystery White Spot is TWO | Feb. 26, 2015

Source: humanspan youtube



Closing in at less than 30,000 miles, Ceres has come into view for the first time in high resolution and with a contrast of surprises. First, the ONE brightest white spot is actually TWO very bright spots within ONE crater. Second, like we were expecting because of how Vesta came into view - first generating great excitement and then proving to be just a big cratered asteroid, Ceres appears to be a big golf ball looking like the Moon. While complex craters have central peaks that can reflect sunlight and multiple craters can overlay one another having multiple central peaks, this is definitely only one crater with TWO distinct central peaks and they happen to be the brightest spots on the entire surface of the Dwarf Planet.

So, what are we left with as Dawn prepares to begin orbiting Ceres in 7 days on March 6th, 2015? The images of Ceres sure don't reveal water, but the current biggest mystery - these two white spots - may reveal the water beneath the surface and betray the "moon like" disguise of this protoplanet thus making it perhaps one of the most unique planets bound to our Sun. Maybe the Fountains of Enceladus give us a clue about what we are seeing as we point out in Video #2 in this series. While some questions are answered, more come to mind as the Dawn Spacecraft prepares to arrive next week. -humanspan
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