Dawn at Ceres Thread

[Frida Space]

This is what Ceres looks like from 383 000 km away! It is 27 pixels wide. I guess we have little time left to speculate what its surface might be like!

[Frozen_Heart]

Whats the white dot??

Could be interesting.

[Newt]

Whats the white dot??

Exactly what I was wondering.

Anyway, this is really exciting. Happy Year of the Dwarf Planet!

[Frida Space]

Happy Year of the Dwarf Planet!

Could also call it the "Year of the Ex-Planets!"

[ScriptKitt3h]

I wonder if that white dot's some sort of recent crater.. or maybe it's some sort of geyser (since it is an icy body).

Oh well, if we get some color images closer up, that'd be cool.

[Camacha]

Today a documentary called Ceres an asteroid. Though I understand where they are coming from, I felt that was a bit sloppy.

[Illumia-Star]

It seems to flicker. Maybe its just the .Gif quality, but it could be a geyser of some sorts? What circumstances could lead to that though? No idea. It's not like Ceres is getting the tugs of Europa to heat it up..Food for thought!

[Newt]

I am going to say that it likely is from the image. Other features jump and flicker it seems, too.

On Triton, geysers are guessed to arise from small sub surface pockets of ice, that are heated by the sun, and eventually sublimate and burst out. Still, without more information, I would personally be more inclined to suggest that it is a bright new impact crater, that seems more likely than a geyser at this point. Also the geysers of Triton were very, very slow moving, and it was possible to determine confidently that they were up above the surface from stereo viewing. I would be surprised if we could already see the changes so well on this feature. It would have to be moving really, really fast.

Older Hubble sequence showing possibly the same bright spot.

Edited January 19, 2015 by Newt
Added

[Camacha]

The difference in size is notable, though, so either way that would mean an active surface. Very interesting, I am keen to see where this goes.

[Frida Space]

Could the white dot be a cryovulcano? I was reading some comments and a guy mentioned it. Not that I believe it (I personally think it's more likely to be a fresh crater, but it's way too early to know for sure), but I was wondering, it's a fascinating scenario.

[Kryten]

Today a documentary called Ceres an asteroid. Though I understand where they are coming from, I felt that was a bit sloppy.

It is an asteroid.

[lajoswinkler]

My hypothesis - bright spot is a fresh crater. Centuries old, at most. Surface is covered in darker tholins, underneath is fresh icy material.

Great stuff.

Volcanism, hardly. It's too small and nothing is squeezing it.

[stupid_chris]

My hypothesis - bright spot is a fresh crater. Centuries old, at most. Surface is covered in darker tholins, underneath is fresh icy material.

Great stuff.

Volcanism, hardly. It's too small and nothing is squeezing it.

Bolded for emphasis.

Ceres is too big and too far away from even Jupiter to have any form of naturally occuring volcanism. I remember Hubble taking pictures of a simillar white spot on Ceres a while back, and it's probably just a crater. Ceres is theorized to have a surface mostly covered in ice, and so impact craters turning white is not too far fetched.

Can't wait to see some higher definition pictures of it's surface though! Dawn delivered gracefully for Vesta.

Also, I'm pretty sure Ceres is considered the smallest of the Dwarf Planets.

[Frida Space]

It is an asteroid.

According to the MPC, it has a dual definition. However, it is quite ambiguous as in 2006 the IAU didn't address whether its new classification as dwarf planet prevented it from being an asteroid, nor did they give a precise definition of asteroid.

[sal_vager]

It looks like a depression on Ceres right where that bright patch is, an old impact crater probably, and could we be lucky enough that we see the glint of sunlight on ice on another world?

Maybe

[Voyager55]

Guys, guys. It's obviously Macey Dean's secret base, where else would he have been for so long?

[Kibble]

An asteroid is any of the millions of minor planets/small Solar System objects that occupy the Asteroid Belt - Ceres is an asteroid, and it is also within the IAU's definition of a dwarf planet.

[Streetwind]

Nice to see that it's getting closer. They said that by the end of January the quality of the images taken by Dawn will exceed those of the Hubble space telescope, and thus become the best images ever taken of Ceres.

By the looks of the animation in the OP, it seems we are already at this point Go Dawn, go ion drives!

[epoca]

Hurry up Dawn!! Can't wait much longer!

[Camacha]

It is an asteroid.

There is a heated discussion to be had about it being a planet of dwarf planet, but calling it an asteroid is just purposefully using confusing definitions.

[vger]

I wonder if that white dot's some sort of recent crater.. or maybe it's some sort of geyser (since it is an icy body).

Oh well, if we get some color images closer up, that'd be cool.

My money is on "crater." There seems to be a C-shaped dark region on the right side, almost wrapped around the bright spot, which seems consistent enough to be the shadow cast by a crater rim.

[Streetwind]

There is a heated discussion to be had about it being a planet of dwarf planet, but calling it an asteroid is just purposefully using confusing definitions.

The IAU actually accepts both. As a member of the asteroid belt, it is acceptable to call Ceres an asteroid. As per its size and physical features, it is acceptable to call Ceres a dwarf planet.

Vesta is in a similar position; it is both an asteroid and a protoplanet (a celestial body on the way to becoming a dwarf planet).

[Camacha]

The IAU actually accepts both. As a member of the asteroid belt, it is acceptable to call Ceres an asteroid. As per its size and physical features, it is acceptable to call Ceres a dwarf planet.

Vesta is in a similar position; it is both an asteroid and a protoplanet (a celestial body on the way to becoming a dwarf planet).

I am not denying any of this, I am just saying that using the term asteroid is a bit sloppy - mainly due to its size and spherical nature. Calling Vestes an asteroid seems a lot less confusing, though there the term protoplanet is probably more accurate too.

- - - Updated - - -

Volcanism, hardly. It's too small and nothing is squeezing it.

As I read this it made me wonder. We all know Jupiter prevents planets forming in the asteroid belt by ripping them apart. I would imagine that this could also mean that enough energy is available for things like tidal heating and volcanism, albeit likely on a rather lower energy level than in other known places.

Edited January 24, 2015 by Camacha

[Kryten]

I am not denying any of this, I am just saying that using the term asteroid is a bit sloppy - mainly due to its size and spherical nature.

A minor planet inside Neptune's orbit without cometary activity is an asteroid. Applying the correct definition rather than whatever the popular perception of it is the exact opposite of sloppy.

[Frida Space]

A minor planet inside Neptune's orbit without cometary activity is an asteroid. Applying the correct definition rather than whatever the popular perception of it is the exact opposite of sloppy.

Only problem is, the IAU has no definition for "asteroid" :-)