NASA Finds Organic Material on Dwarf Planet Ceres
NASA's Dawn Mission has discovered evidence of organic material on the dwarf planet Ceres, which is the largest object in the asteroid belt located between Mars and Jupiter.
"This is the first clear detection of organic molecules from orbit on the main belt body," according to Maria Cristina De Sanctis, lead author of the study, based at the National Institute of Astrophysics, Rome.
Using the spacecraft's visible and infrared spectrometer (VIR), scientists were able to locate organic material in and around a northern hemisphere crater named Ernutet. Other organics were discovered 250 miles away from Ernutet, in a small crater called Inamahari.
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There is a growing list of bodies in the solar system that has organic compounds. Ceres, in particular, has similarities with meteorites abundant in water and organics, one instance is a group of meteorites called carbonaceous chondrites. The study strengthens the connection of Ceres, these meteorites as well as their parent bodies.
The discovery supports the idea that these organic material are native to Ceres, formed most likely in a warm and water-rich setting.
The carbonates and clays discovered on Ceres suggest that there is chemical activity going on in the presence of heat and water.
"This discovery adds to our understanding of the possible origins of water and organics on Earth," Julie Castillo-Rogez, Dawn project scientist based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California stated.
Past findings include hydrated materials, carbonates, water ice, and ammoniated clays, which scientists suspect were altered by water. Salts and sodium carbonate, like the ones discovered around the Occator Crater, are also believed to have been brought to the surface by liquid.
Dawn is expected to move to a different orbital plane. By late spring, it should be able to view Ceres with the sun directly behind the spacecraft. Better lighting should provide more data about the planet and its nature.
The discovery has been published in the journal, Science.
