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Ceres' Mystery Bright Dots May Have Volcanic Origin

astroengine writes As NASA's Dawn mission slowly spirals in on its dwarf planet target, Ceres' alien landscape is becoming sharper by the day. And, at a distance of only 29,000 miles (46,000 kilometers), the robotic spacecraft has revealed multiple bright patches on the surface, but one of the brightest spots has revealed a dimmer bright patch right next door. "Ceres' bright spot can now be seen to have a companion of lesser brightness, but apparently in the same basin," said Chris Russell, of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and principal investigator for the Dawn mission. "This may be pointing to a volcano-like origin of the spots, but we will have to wait for better resolution before we can make such geologic interpretations."

28 comments

  1. This one new trick by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

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  2. Martians went the wrong way by turkeydance · · Score: 1
  3. Speculation by amightywind · · Score: -1

    but we will have to wait for better resolution before we can make such geologic interpretations

    Then why don't you, and save us the mindless speculation? Can't you mentally masturbate in private for a few more days?

    --
    an ill wind that blows no good
    1. Re:Speculation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      i like to masturbate too

    2. Re:Speculation by Tailhook · · Score: -1, Troll

      My. How harsh.

      At this point with ESA Rosetta we hung on the every utterance of ESA staff hoping for another update or photo, gushing over the AMAZING mission that was successfully launched and successfully flown to the successful asteroid where they successfully fired a probe that successfully unintentionally ricocheted off the rock but was successfully stuck in a crevasse and returned an ASTONISHING successful picture. OMGWTFBBQ IT'S SO COOL!!!!1. 15 stories over 2 months. Speculation. Blow-by-blows. The full monty, complete with feminist tee shirt outrage.

      Some UCLA mope speculates about a bright spot in a photo and you jump ALL THE WAY down his throat and start kicking him in the kidneys from the inside.

      Don't worry. There will be one, maybe two more stories about Dawn and Ceres and you can go back to sleep, happy to ignore those stoopid 'muricans and their 57 year legacy of space exploration.

      Unfortunately for you, New Horizons will be popping up in a few months to annoy you with more stoopid 'murican NASA noise. It's about to fly by Pluto.

      Sorry about that.

      --
      Maw! Fire up the karma burner!
    3. Re:Speculation by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      "OMGWTFBBQ"
      Let me guess: this was the gender orientation of the politically hypercorrect journotards covering Rosetta in that epic news conference last summer?

    4. Re:Speculation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      WTF is wrong with you? Judging by OP's history he's probably a right-wing Duhmerican nutjob, so you're barking up the wrong tree.

      BTW: The Dawn camera was developed by the German Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research. Seems like real scientists are above your stupid jingoism.

    5. Re:Speculation by Maritz · · Score: 1

      That chip on your shoulder. You shouldn't make it quite so obvious.

      --
      I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
  4. Space Sharks With Lasers by cruff · · Score: 1, Informative

    The space sharks are trying to destroy Dawn before it can get too close to image their civilization.

  5. Why only Pluto is getting the love? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I'm 222 years old and as far as I'm concerned Ceres is still a planet.

    1. Re:Why only Pluto is getting the love? by Tablizer · · Score: 1, Funny

      I'm 222 years old and as far as I'm concerned Ceres is still a planet.

      I'm 4,000 years old, and as far as I'm concerned, Earth is still flat. You newfangled roundies have it all wrong. You are projecting your own image onto earth, you sedentary belly blobs.

    2. Re:Why only Pluto is getting the love? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hahaha. The only reason you assholes know the earth is round is because somebody told you it was. The average person 2000 years ago knew the earth was round and you think you are so smart.
      I bet you guys look at a crescent moon you think it's caused by the earth's shadow. I bet you believe that there are aliens on ceres. I bet you believe HHGTTG is real. You sound like a climate change goofball. You probably use systemd and fuck chickens. No way you are 4,000 years old, maybe 12 or maybe like 15 but you are not all that. Stupido!

    3. Re:Why only Pluto is getting the love? by rubycodez · · Score: 1

      it now considered "Ceres, the dwarf planet formerly classified as an asteroid, except in the IAU where it formerly was a minor planet and small solar system body"

    4. Re:Why only Pluto is getting the love? by kolbe · · Score: 1

      I bet you guys look at a crescent moon you think it's caused by the earth's shadow.

      It is caused by the earth's shadow... during a lunar eclipse.

    5. Re:Why only Pluto is getting the love? by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Shadow of a giant turtle in its shell.

  6. Premature Eguessulation by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Shouldn't we wait until the probe actually arrives and gets details before speculating?

    There are bright spots on Ganymede (Jupiter moon) that are probably from meteors smashing into its icy surface.

    Even our moon has Tycho crater which is surrounded with bright dust due to the recency of the impact. (Radiation tends to darken soil and rocks over time.) Volcano claims are premature.

    1. Re:Premature Eguessulation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      There is no reason we should not be speculating now. Actually, we should be. This is a great time to be speculating about possible ways these areas could have formed, and what types of evidence for or against we should look for as the probe gets closer to support or dismiss our speculations. It lets us focus our efforts on what will give us the most bang for the buck once we get into orbit.

    2. Re:Premature Eguessulation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Shouldn't we wait until the probe actually arrives and gets details before speculating?

      You seem to be implying that we should speculate after we discover what it is. Where is the fun in that?

    3. Re:Premature Eguessulation by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      I have no problem with private speculation, it's just premature to publish it when soon we'll have much better info.

  7. Birkeland Currents Frequently Come in Pairs by paradigmsareconstruc · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Perhaps it is the correct time to remind people that in the plasma laboratory, current-carrying filaments tend to exhibit both long-range attraction and short-range repulsion. Setting the scientific framework's needs aside for a moment, that would seem to point more logically to an electrical inference. Note that we see a similar dipolar structure at the poles of Venus as well.

    The key test will be to observe whether or not they rotate around one another.

    If they do, then it's time for Slashdot to end its ban on the electric discharge machining inference.

  8. Wait a second... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    That's no dwarf planet.

  9. Concerning a hypothesis about light spots on Ceres by Geoffrey.landis · · Score: 4, Funny

    Dimpled spinning ball

    ice in bottoms of craters

    glints bright in sunlight.

    --
    http://www.geoffreylandis.com
  10. Re:Concerning a hypothesis about light spots on Ce by Shooter6947 · · Score: 1

    I do believe you have won the comments section for this article ;). Thanks to everyone else for playing!

  11. Re:Concerning a hypothesis about light spots on Ce by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Getting serious for a moment - and making a prediction of my own, what you're witnessing in the picture is the creation of a "bullseye" crater, with electrical machining. it's an electrical phenomena. We can discount the volcanism straight away. Where's the ash clouds? someone take some temperature readings, please! You'll see "saturated" responses, because it'll be off the charts, and we'll be left speculating. it's off the charts, because it's the kind of temperatures you'd see with lightning. Sounds crazy, but so does every theory, until it's taught as fact.
    If we all woke up to what alternative thinking on the universe has been telling us for quite some time, we wouldn't have a lost century in the understanding of our universe, and we could stop wasting so much research grants on finding pixie dust in the cosmos.

  12. Re:Concerning a hypothesis about light spots on Ce by Maritz · · Score: 1

    If we all woke up to what alternative thinking on the universe has been telling us for quite some time, we wouldn't have a lost century in the understanding of our universe, and we could stop wasting so much research grants on finding pixie dust in the cosmos.

    Cool - what has alternative thinking been telling us? I think I missed that memo. Does it involve tin foil in any way?

    --
    I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
  13. Re:Concerning a hypothesis about light spots on Ce by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In an electric universe, wearing a tinfoil hat is unwise

  14. Re:Concerning a hypothesis about light spots on Ce by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Dimpled spinning ball

    ice in bottoms of craters

    glints bright in sunlight.

    Burma Shave.

  15. I'm not saying it's aliens, but it's aliens... by MetricT · · Score: 1

    When I was younger, I remember reading a sci-fi novel about aliens in our solar system who were overseeing mankind's growth.

    The aliens chose their base on Ceres because the asteroid field offered nigh-unlimited resources outside the confines of a gravity well, because Ceres had water for living and powering fusion engines, and because it was far enough away from earth to stay out of sight.

    While those two white spots *could* be an example of cryovolcanism, I think that we can all agree that ancient abandoned alien city is really the more likely choice ;-)