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 by Brooks Hays Washington (UPI) Sep 7, 2018
A new mosaic image shared Friday by NASA showcases one of Ceres' bright spots. The dwarf planet's bright spots were first discovered and photographed in 2015. In the time since, high resolution images have offered scientists clearer and clearer views of the bright spots. Ceres' brightest spot is located on a feature called Cerealia Facula, found in the Occator Crater. The latest mosaic combines several photographs of the feature, some from altitudes as low as 22 miles above the dwarf planet's surface. "The mosaic is overlain on a topography model based on images obtained during Dawn's low altitude mapping orbit," according to NASA. NASA scientists believe Ceres' bright spots are evidence of geologic activity. When Dawn was first approaching Ceres, only a couple of large bright spots were visible. However, the probe's extensive survey of the dwarf planet has since revealed hundreds of bright spots. "Geological processes created these bright areas and may still be changing the face of Ceres today," NASA researcher Carol Raymond said last year. "Ceres is a geologically and chemically active body," Dawn scientist Cristina De Sanctis said earlier this year. A reflective material covering a six-mile-wide expanse forms the Cerealia Facula bright spot. The reflectivity is caused by a salt-rich material. Scientists believe the salty solution was deposited by an icy lava dome.
Asteroid-Deflection Mission Passes Key Development Milestone Laurel MD (SPX) Sep 06, 2018 The first-ever mission to demonstrate an asteroid deflection technique for planetary defense has moved into the final design and assembly phase, following NASA's approval on Aug. 16. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), being designed, built and managed by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, will test what's known as the kinetic impactor technique - striking an asteroid to shift its orbit - and take a critical step in demonstrating how to protect our planet fr ... read more
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