Ceres' Water Ice Can Mask Massive Surface Salt Deposits (Universe Today)
DOZER BITWELL: A dwarf planet's ice may be hiding its salt, and the old numbers might have missed it.
DOZER BITWELL: Good morning, or still night, depending. This is The Big Picture. Today: Ceres, a dwarf planet with, apparently, a salt situation. ▶
DOZER BITWELL: Vera, how did we get here? Where, exactly... is here? Sorry. Thermos. ▶
DR. VERA VECTOR: Universe Today reports Ceres is the largest object in the main asteroid belt. It holds between 25 and 30 percent of the belt's mass. ▶
DR. VERA VECTOR: Its surface shows past water ice activity and bright spots, which are highly reflective salt deposits. Dawn explored it from 2015 to 2018. ▶
NOVA: Thrilled! A whole world, and water ice may be hiding salt on it. In cosmic terms, our first look was just the first look. Huge. ▶
DOZER BITWELL: So the ice is... covering the salt? Like a blanket. A cold, cold blanket. Where was I. ▶
DR. VERA VECTOR: That is a reasonable way to picture it, as analysis. The researchers combined Dawn data with computer models to study how ice and salt evolved. ▶
LUNA LOWBATT: And the real amount? The report doesn't say. It stops before the result. I'll charge on that thought. ▶
DOZER BITWELL: Salt that may be more than we thought, under ice, on a rock between planets. Sleep well, everyone. ▶