Scientists are finally sure they have found out what causes the mysterious bright lights on the surface of Dwarf Planet Ceres. The anomalous lights have caused great confusion in the astronomic community ever since their discovery. But finally, two scientific studies could finally explain one of the greatest ‘new’ mysterious in our solar system.
The mysterious features are found in the Occator crater, which has a sharp rim, walls, and abundant terraces and landslide deposits. Occator is considered as one of the youngest features on Ceres, as scientists estimate its age to be around 78 million years.
While NASA astronomers already had several hypotheses, an international team of scientists claims to have discovered the nature of the reflective material that shines from the planet Ceres, also known as the Death Star.
Andreas Nathues, lead author of one study, from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany, announced that the material that causes the mysterious bright lights is consistent with a type of magnesium sulfate called hexahydrite. A different type of magnesium sulfate is familiar on Earth as Epsom salt.
“The global nature of the bright spots of Ceres indicates that the planet has a layer containing brackish underground water ice,” said Nathues, which further reinforces the theory that Ceres holds beneath its surface a huge amount of frozen water.
The surface of Ceres, whose average diameter is 584 miles (940 kilometers), is generally dark — similar in brightness to fresh asphalt — study authors wrote. The inner portion of a crater called Occator contains the brightest material on Ceres.
In the second study presented in the Journal Nature, members of the Dawn science team worked on examining the composition of Ceres and discovered evidence of Ammonia-rich clays.
“The presence of ammonia-bearing species suggests that Ceres is composed of material accreted in an environment where ammonia and nitrogen were abundant. Consequently, we think that this material originated in the outer cold solar system,” said Maria Cristina De Sanctis, lead author of the study, based at the National Institute of Astrophysics, Rome.
The presence of the ammoniated compounds suggests a revolutionary theory. It is possible that Ceres did not originate in the main asteroid belt, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, where it resides today, but could have formed outside of our solar system in the distant past.
Ufologists however, have a very different opinion.
According to them, he Occator crater is filled with ‘anomalous’ structures that are anything but natural formations. Several Ufologists who have taken a look at the newest images from dwarf planet Ceres suggest that several ‘buildings’ are seen next to the bright spots. Researchers have not been able to explain the mysterious shapes and bright spots that have caused quite a debate on social networks.
Ceres’ bright spots aren’t the only thing anomalous that NASA has found. Recently, experts have identified hat appears to be a giant pyramidal structure on the surface of the planet. NASA has surprised us all with the images that will surely provide a lot to talk about among ufologists and researchers. Ceres is a dwarf planet where almost everything is flat and deserted, but thanks to the newest images of the Dawn spacecraft, experts have found, in the middle of nowhere, pyramidal structures standing tall and “proud”.