Detecting the formation of clouds in a crater of the planet Ceres – The Times

Ed. Print solved the mystery of the bright spots

Detect cloud formation in a crater of the planet Ceres. – Efe

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Scientists from Germany’s Max Planck Institute detected the formation of clouds in the interior of a crater of the dwarf planet Ceres that may come from the sublimation of ice water, according to a study published in the journal Nature.

Andraes Natheus and his group of researchers used data from the Dawn (Dawn) probe orbiting Ceres since March, to try to solve the mystery of the bright spots observed on the surface of the planet.

One of these reflections is in the Occator crater, a hole 90 kilometers wide and 4 kilometers deep inside which appears and disappears a bright haze to a daily rate.

“Our Detection of these clouds, in combination with recent observations observatory Herschel, who found water vapor in the vicinity of Ceres, suggests that there is water ice under Occator “Natheus said.

The group at the Max Planck he studied the more than 130 bright areas it has identified the NASA spacecraft and concluded that most of these reflections may be due to the incidence of sunlight on a surface of hydrated magnesium sulfate.

“What we see are salts in the solid state. Not ice, but contain links sulfate water “described Natheus, stressing that” under the surface there are probably saline water reserves. “

The data that is sending the Dawn probe, the first device Human orbiting the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter have also served to scientists at the National Institute of Astrophysics of Italy (INAF) to delve into the details of the formation of Ceres.

According his work, also published in Nature, the minerals were detected on the surface of the dwarf planet Ceres born suggest that in the most remote regions of the solar system.

The American ship has allowed observations spectrometry refine it until now had made terrestrial and orbiting telescopes, so that scientists can now analyze more closely the composition of that body.

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