Ceres is one of the dwarf planets in the solar system. It is also very near the Earth, since it is located in the Asteroid Belt. Scientists are wondering whether there is ice on Ceres, and a recent discovery has it that ice is everywhere on Ceres.
Ceres does not look icy when viewed. Ceres' surface seems rockier, much like the other asteroids near it. However, there is more to Ceres. Studies show that Ceres has ice beneath its rocky surface.
NASA's Dawn mission has shown that Ceres most likely has ice underneath its surface. There is evidence that this ice is near the surface. Early in the history of Ceres the ice crust has formed, separating the ice from the rock. This has been the assessment of the Dawn team led by Carol Raymond, deputy principal investigator of the Dawn mission.
The uppermost surface of Ceres has hydrogen. This is important in the study of Ceres having ice in it. The ice in Ceres is everywhere and not just found in a few craters, as said by Thomas Prettyman, the principal investigator of the Dawn gamma ray and neutron detector (GRaND). Through GRaND researchers have located where hydrogen, iron and potassium are on Ceres.
The researchers surmise that ice in Ceres is not a solid layer. Instead, it is ice along with rocky material, according to Phys Org. Evidence of ice can be seen with the presence of hydrogen, iron and potassium. This shows that the top layer of Ceres must have been altered with liquid water underneath Ceres' surface. Ceres is said to be around 10 percent water, as The Telegraph reports.
Another study led by Thomas Platz from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research has looked into the craters found on Ceres' northern hemisphere. The craters are called cold traps since these craters are very cold. Ice found in such craters are trapped and have remained there for billions of years. Norbert Schorghofer co-author of the study and from the University of Hawaii has said that the study looks into how the ice has been there and why it has lasted so long.
Ceres is one of the dwarf planets of the solar system. A new study shows that ice is everywhere on Ceres. Another study says that large planets from other stars would likely have Neptune's mass.
