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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsClearest Photo Ever Of Ceres' Bright Spots Still Doesn't Answer Mystery
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/7422262Ryan Grenoble Editor at The Huffington Post
See spots. See spots shine. See shining spots puzzle scientists.
The mystery surrounding a cluster of glowing spots on the surface of Ceres, a dwarf planet in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, was highlighted Wednesday when NASA released the highest-resolution photo of the spots ever taken:
NASA's Dawn spacecraft captured the image on May 16, as it was orbiting 4,500 miles above the planet's surface. It had entered orbit on March 6. The space agency says the crater that harbors the bright spots is about 57 miles wide.
Scientists have been aware of the phenomenon since the Hubble Telescope captured images of Ceres in 2004. As the resolution of the photos taken has increased, so too has the curiosity of astronomers.
Current theories to explain the spots include ice -- potentially exposed by the impact of another celestial object, or perhaps spewed out by some sort of icy volcano or geyser -- or salt deposits.
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Clearest Photo Ever Of Ceres' Bright Spots Still Doesn't Answer Mystery (Original Post)
G_j
May 2015
OP
Logical
(22,457 posts)1. Cool, thanks for posting
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)2. Giant carbon crystals.
Rex
(65,616 posts)3. THIS is what happens when you try and save a few globflecks and shop at Galaxy-Mart.
Shitty cloaking device, probably made in a sweatshop on Io.
shenmue
(38,506 posts)5. It probably doesn't even go "bzzt bzzt"
or have cool flashing lights.
Rex
(65,616 posts)8. Nope, it just flashes on and off like a cheap throw away camera.
Mostly recycled parts scavenged from long forgotten warzones.
"Lower prices and shitty cloaking devices!"
That is the Galaxy-Mart way!
Or so they say in Pluto.
eppur_se_muova
(36,269 posts)4. ... ice is a good bet ...
"We have these bright spots that have the reflectivity of ice, and whose spectrum of reflected light is similar to that expected from ice. So ice is a good bet," said UCLA astronomer Christopher Russell, principal investigator for the Dawn Mission, in an email to NBC News.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)6. It's a domed city. That's a mine to the right. nt
CanonRay
(14,104 posts)7. K Mart parking lot
as seen from space.
yuiyoshida
(41,832 posts)9. THATS EASY!! ITS
Tom Bodett and Motel 6 Still Leaving the Lights On For You.
ThoughtCriminal
(14,047 posts)10. Can't we board it up or put some plywood over it or something?