Astronomers have discovered a new “oceanic” planet of the Solar system
MOSCOW, 14 Feb — RIA Novosti. Traces of eruptions of cryovolcanism on Ceres helped scientists to prove that under the surface of this dwarf planet, there is almost “eternal” ice of the ocean, filled with thick brine. Estimated dates of his life were revealed in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
First images of Ceres obtained by the Dawn probe in March of 2015 after his arrival to the dwarf planet, revealed two unusual structures that no one expected to see — a mysterious white spot in the crater Okkator caught traces of a thick “brine”, and the unusual pyramidal mountain of Akhun, towering over Ceres for four kilometres.
Later Dawn and his research team found that the Sea actually is an ancient, already “extinct” cryovolcano, and white spots were the traces of the eruptions of its “brothers”. In addition, in other regions, scientists have found deposits of “clean” ice, indicating that the surface of Ceres is updated continuously, as the ice is supposed to evaporate into space.
Such discoveries have led some scholars to assume that in the depths of the dwarf planet may be hiding a frozen or still existing ice of the ocean, filled with a kind of “pickle” or clean water, which warms the still unknown source of heat.
As noted by Hesse, planetary scientists for several years arguing about how liquid water can exist on Ceres, if you believe the simplest calculations is only a few hundred thousand years before it completely freezes. It can not be combined with the fact that white spots appeared in the crater Okkator recently, and he emerged about 30 million years ago.
Hesse and his colleagues found the answer to this riddle, by studying the chemical composition of these emissions “water magma” and their physical properties, and characteristics of the “rocks” of Ceres.