An ancient ocean on Ceres?
Two studies released today by the Dawn science team suggest that the spacecraft has found evidence that an ancient ocean once existed on Ceres.
In one study, the Dawn team found Ceres’ crust is a mixture of ice, salts and hydrated materials that were subjected to past and possibly recent geologic activity, and this crust represents most of that ancient ocean. The second study builds off the first and suggests there is a softer, easily deformable layer beneath Ceres’ rigid surface crust, which could be the signature of residual liquid left over from the ocean, too.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Two studies released today by the Dawn science team suggest that the spacecraft has found evidence that an ancient ocean once existed on Ceres.
In one study, the Dawn team found Ceres’ crust is a mixture of ice, salts and hydrated materials that were subjected to past and possibly recent geologic activity, and this crust represents most of that ancient ocean. The second study builds off the first and suggests there is a softer, easily deformable layer beneath Ceres’ rigid surface crust, which could be the signature of residual liquid left over from the ocean, too.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Interesting that the Occator crater is located in the deepest blue area of the gravitational map, indicating a high proportion of water under the surface, leading to less dense mass, and therefore lower gravitational field?
Ceres is now believed to be an ancient ocean bottom. Like an icy Jovian moon whose ice shell and underlying liquid ocean has evaporated, from bombardment and because Ceres is straddling the water ice line.
I wonder if they have enough hydrazine left to soft land Dawn on Ceres. The gravity might be too high at 2.7% that of Earth’s.
One of the most interesting parts of the report is the mention of water clathrates.
What many will think of first is:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane_clathrate
That water clathrates can be stronger than water ice by 100-1000 to 1 is something I did not know. More immediately one should ask what is the gas bound in the clathrate. While methane comes to mind it is *far* from the only possibility.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clathrate_compound
However, whatever trapped gas is available in a water caged clathrate may be several very good things for us. Fuel to combine with water’s Oxygen: Raw materials for industrial processes: Atmosphere for Ceres! Yes, an atmosphere, from the crust of Ceres could be maintained for a very long time by continual drilling and release of gas. Initially this will just be for habitats, but these will grow. Eventually this can encompass the entire dwarf planet. Yes, even with only 2.7% of Earth’s gravitational pull.
The gas is unlikely to be Oxygen because that is so reactive, but it might well be CO2. If it is ammonia, then that can be broken down into hydrogen for fuel and free Nitrogen for export and for thickening the atmosphere of an Oxygen/Nitrogen mixture atmosphere. A nice mix of 40% Oxygen and 60% Nitrogen could give us atmosphere not approached since the Carboniferous Era, when all that Oxygen was being released into Earth’s atmosphere. Then Ceres could become famous as the only place where humans regularly fly under their own power with 2.7% of Earth’s gravity!
Is Heaven out there between Mars and Jupiter??
Also read my conspiracy theories about Antarctica
https://aliens-explorer.blogspot.com/2019/11/conspiracy-theories-about-antarctica.html?m=1