Scientists have confirmed signs of water on the dwarf planet Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt. A team led by the European Space Agency detected water plumes spewing from two regions of the dwarf planet using the infrared Herschel Space Observatory telescope. Scientists have long suspected Ceres may hold significant amounts of water but have never been able to prove it. Herschel did not detect water every time it pointed toward Ceres, and the scientists think the water vapor may shoot out as the dwarf planet swings closer to the sun, warming its surface, at some points in its orbit. The researchers published their findings Thursday in Nature, explaining that the tiny planet – just 590 miles in diameter — has an icy surface that, if melted, may potentially contain more freshwater than all of Earth. rawstory/rs/2014/01/23/dwarf-planet-ceres-in-asteroid-belt-may-contain-more-freshwater-than-earth/
Posted on: Fri, 24 Jan 2014 22:42:42 +0000