NASA's Ceres Pics Show Mysterious Bright Spots On Planet

NASA's Dawn spacecraft is drawing nearer to the dwarf planet Ceres, and unlike the photos we saw late last month when the spacecraft was farther away, the latest ones are quite a bit clearer...and sporting a big mystery. At a distance of 29,000 miles away on February 19, the spacecraft took an image that shows two distant bright spots on or near the surface of the small planet. The cause of those spots continue to be a mystery.

The bright spot was first spotted in previous images that were taken farther away. As the spacecraft grows nearer, the bright spot becomes clear enough to see that there is a second bright spot near it, slightly dimmer, and in the same basin, says NASA. Attempts to get a better look at those bright spots have failed, as the camera is still too far away.

Dawn will be entering into orbit around the small planet on March 6, at which point NASA will hopefully get a clearer look at those bright spots to identify what they are. Speculation about possible "volcano-like" origins have been cited, but that can't yet be confirmed until clearer images are produced.

Ceres is 560 miles in diameter, and researchers hope to learn more about it once Dawn gets closer. Dawn had previously completed a similar mission with the asteroid Vesta a couple years ago, a mission during which it sent back in excess of 30,000 photos.

SOURCE: NASA