Based on an analysis of data from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, the dwarf planet Ceres reportedly conceals salty water beneath its surface. The Dawn mission (2007-2018) focused on gathering information about Vesta and Ceres, the largest bodies in the main asteroid belt.
Latest Findings: Ceres as an Ocean World
The intriguing discovery has prompted scientists to categorize Ceres as an “ocean world,” due to the large reservoir of salty water located under its icy exterior. This newly acquired status has further sparked interest in the possibility that this dwarf planet may be, or have the potential to become, habitable. In celestial science, the term ‘Ocean Worlds’ often refers to the existence of ‘Water in the Solar System and Beyond’.
Scientists believe that the salty water originated from brine reservoirs that spread hundreds of miles and extend about 40 km beneath the surface of Ceres. Additionally, evidence suggests that Ceres is still geologically active and experiences cryovolcanism, which is marked by volcanoes spewing icy material. Unlike traditional volcanoes that release molten rock, cryovolcanoes or salty-mud volcanoes discharge frigid, salty water sometimes mixed with mud.
Subsurface Oceans on Other Celestial Bodies
Besides Ceres, subsurface oceans have also been identified on Jupiter’s moon Europa, Saturn’s moon Enceladus, Neptune’s moon Triton, and the dwarf planet Pluto – a discovery which assists scientists in deciphering the history of the solar system.
About Ceres
Ceres reigns as the largest object in the asteroid belt separating Mars and Jupiter. It was the first member of the asteroid belt to be discovered, spotted by Giuseppe Piazzi in 1801, and later classified as a dwarf planet in 2006. Located in the inner solar system (which includes planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars), it is the only dwarf planet. It boasts a diameter of 950 km, over a quarter of the size of Earth’s moon.
Ceres takes 1,682 Earth days, or 4.6 Earth years, to circle the sun and completes one rotation around its axis every nine hours. It has neither moons nor rings. A noticeable feature of Ceres is the 92 km wide crater named Occator, situated in its northern hemisphere.
Understanding Dwarf Planets
The International Astronomical Union (IAU), responsible for defining planetary science, classifies a dwarf planet as a celestial body that orbits the sun, has enough mass to assume a nearly round shape, has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit, and is not a moon. The first five recognized dwarf planets are Ceres, Pluto, Eris, Makemake, and Haumea.
