NASA announces new images of lights on the dwarf planet Ceres

The more the probe Dawn approaches the dwarf planet Ceres, more images appear and continue to intrigue scientists and astronomers. In the last week, the whole world stopped after the NASA publish images that showed 2 glowing dots on the planetoid. The image was taken on February 19 at a distance of about 46 thousand kilometers. This week, images released in GIF Site Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory) shows more details of the behavior of the lights of Ceres. This time, the photographs were taken at a distance of about 25 thousand kilometers.

In a press conference, granted this Monday (02/03/2015), NASA technicians offered details of the probe's mission Dawn. Launched into space in 2007, the project will be dedicated to sending images of Ceres during 16 months to scientists so that they can study its surface and better understand its origin and evolution. Even in the face of so many challenges, the team of scientists cannot contain their optimism: “Dawn is about to make history", said Robert Mase, mission director for the spacecraft at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

The bright spots can be interpreted by different hypotheses, but in general it is a strong indication of the presence of tectonic activity on the surface of Ceres. The mission's lead researcher Dawn, Chris Russell, said in the statement that Ceres' glows could have a volcanic origin, but prefers to wait for higher resolution images to be able to make geological claims. "This (the bright dots) could be pointing to a volcanic origin of the dots, but we'll have to wait for better resolution images before we make these geological interpretations.“, he declared.

Other hypotheses include Ice (since scientists had already detected water vapor coming from the surface of the planetoid) and also the possibility of being shawl. The celestial body was discovered in 1801 by Giuseppe Piazzi and was first considered a comet, then a planet and an asteroid, until it was finally cataloged as a dwarf planet in 2006. The 970 km diameter mini planet is the largest object in the Earth's belt. asteroids comprised between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter and which houses hundreds of celestial bodies. According to NASA, Ceres it could harbor a thick blanket of ice and hide an ocean beneath its icy crust. Furthermore, scientists estimate that 25% of its planetary mass could be water.

The US Space Agency also made available a video which shows the rotation behavior of the protoplanet Ceres, in an orbit between Mars and Jupiter. THE Dawn must enter orbit around Ceres at 9:20 am (Brasilia time) this Friday (06/03/2015). However, according to sources in NASA, Earth's radio telescopes will not be in a position to pick up the signal sent by the Dawn until a few hours later.

The solar-powered probe visited during 14 months (between 2011 and 2012) the giant asteroid Vest, which, as Ceres, is in the same asteroid belt. At the time, the probe made more than 30 images of the celestial body and provided scientists with better knowledge about the composition and geological history of Vest, which has a diameter of 525 kilometers was the second largest asteroid in the Solar System, until it was promoted to protoplanet in 2012.

NASA's Planetary Science Division director Jim Green said in the statement that the glows from Ceres may be one more clue in search of the origins of our solar system and the universe: “Studying Ceres will allow us to do a historical survey of space, we will be able to enter the first chapter of the history of our solar system", he said in a videoconference from the space agency's headquarters in Washington. "The data sent from Dawn could contribute to significant advances in our understanding of how the solar system formed.“, added the scientist.

Scientists are eager to take a closer look at the dwarf planet formed 4,6 billion years ago. "They are literally fossils that we can investigate to understand the processes that were going on at that time.“, said scientist Carol Raymond, also of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "Ceres was on its way to becoming a planet, but its development was stopped by Jupiter's gravity.", completed

Source: Mashable