Ice would be very likely--the so-called asteroid belt is just chock full of water ice.
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Setanta
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Thu 19 Feb, 2015 03:58 am
From the Wikipedia article on Ceres:
Quote:
The surface composition of Ceres is broadly similar to that of C-type asteroids. Some differences do exist. The ubiquitous features of the Cererian IR spectra are those of hydrated materials, which indicate the presence of significant amounts of water in the interior.
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edgarblythe
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Fri 27 Feb, 2015 03:58 pm
My first thought was ice. Can't imagine anything other.
I have a hard time understanding eruptions of the ice. I guess my brain is too small.
Wait. I read the rest of your link and it makes more sense now.
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Setanta
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Tue 3 Mar, 2015 04:06 pm
This page from the Planetary Society is kind of cool. It shows Ceres rotating. I thought people might enjoy the animation. (Created, if i understand the author correctly, from 27 image.)
I saw one of the spacecraft's shadow on there earlier. Thanks for the rotation pics.
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FBM
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Tue 3 Mar, 2015 06:55 pm
Yep. Thanks for the pics. They are outstanding. Meanwhile:
Quote:
Bright Spots on Ceres Likely Ice, Not Cryovolcanoes
by NANCY ATKINSON on MARCH 3, 2015
...
While cryovolcanoes have been bantered around as a possibility, during the briefing yesterday the science team downplayed that possibility, citing several pieces of evidence.
First, Raymond said the spots are consistent with highly reflective materials that may contain ice or salts...
Let's assume the bright spots are ice of some type. Then the next question might be, are there just a few little spots of ice, or is the whole thing a giant ice ball just covered in a layer of dust?
