NASA’s Dawn mission tagged posts

New evidence of Organic Material identified on Ceres, the Inner Solar System’s most Water-rich Object after Earth

Six years ago, NASA’s Dawn mission communicated with Earth for the last time, ending its exploration of Ceres and Vesta, the two largest bodies in the asteroid belt. Since then, Ceres —a water-rich dwarf planet showing signs of geological activity— has been at the center of intense debates about its origin and evolution.

Now, a study led by IAA-CSIC, using Dawn data and an innovative methodology, has identified 11 new regions suggesting the existence of an internal reservoir of organic materials in the dwarf planet. The results, published in The Planetary Science Journal, provide critical insights into the potential nature of this celestial body.

In 2017, the Dawn spacecraft detected organic compounds near the Ernutet crater in Ceres’ northern hemisphere, sparking discussion...

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Hypervelocity Impact Experiments Probe the Origin of Organics on the Dwarf Planet Ceres

Hypervelocity impact experiments probe the origin of organics on the dwarf planet Ceres
Side view of the ejecta curtain created during a hypervelocity impact experiment at the NASA Ames Vertical Gun Range. The experiment was designed to investigate the effects of impacts on Ceres’ organics. Credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

One of the most exciting findings from NASA’s Dawn mission is that Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt that lies between Mars and Jupiter, hosts complex organics. The discovery of aliphatic molecules, which consist of carbon and hydrogen chains, in conjunction with evidence that Ceres has abundant water ice and may have been an ocean world, means this dwarf planet might have once harbored the main ingredients associated with life as we know it.

How the aliphatic organics originated on Ceres has been the ...

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Dawn maps Ceres Craters where Ice can accumulate

At the poles of Ceres, scientists have found craters that are permanently in shadow (indicated by blue markings). Such craters are called "cold traps" if they remain below about minus 240 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 151 degrees Celsius). These shadowed craters may have been collecting ice for billions of years because they are so cold. This image was created using data from NASA's Dawn spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Goddard

At the poles of Ceres, scientists have found craters that are permanently in shadow (indicated by blue markings). Such craters are called “cold traps” if they remain below about minus 240 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 151 degrees Celsius). These shadowed craters may have been collecting ice for billions of years because they are so cold. This image was created using data from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Goddard

Scientists with NASA’s Dawn mission have identified permanently shadowed regions on the dwarf planet Ceres. Most of these areas likely have been cold enough to trap water ice for a billion years, suggesting that ice deposits could exist there now. “The conditions on Ceres are right for accumulating deposits of water ice,” said N Schorghofer...

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