It is a dwarf, but its surface is 90% water.

A new study suggests that Ceres, the closest dwarf planet to Earth, may have a much larger icy ocean world than previously thought.

Ceres is one of the most curious celestial bodies First of all, because its tiny size makes it a dwarf planet, but at the same time it is the largest astronomical object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Curious facts about Ceres are growing thanks to research conducted by Ian Pamerleau, Mike Sorey and Jennifer Scully, who discovered that The surface of this planet may consist of 90% water.

This finding represents a big change from previous estimates because They showed that only 30% The surface of Ceres was water. The importance of this study, published in Nature This affects not only the past, but also the future. And Ceres could be like this the most accessible ice world in the universewhich could lead to future space missions.

Ceres, a dwarf planet composed of 90% water.

According to research conducted by Pamerlau, Sorey and Scully, Ceres is a key celestial body for understanding the evolution of dwarf planets. Until now It was believed that 30% of its surface consists of ice water.but this new study shows that the percentage is much higher. In particular, more than 90% of Ceres’ crust may be composed of ice, and this discovery could mean that important knowledge about ocean worlds and their appearance when frozen.

Initial studies were based on the assumption that the surface of Ceres As time goes on things will become smoother. if it were really made of ice. However, work by NASA’s Dawn probe in 2015 showed that the planet It still had distinct craters.Therefore, the researchers concluded that it is not such an icy planet as expected, and that only around it 30% of the surface is frozen, no more.

Ceres changes ideas about the emergence of ocean worlds

“People used to think that if Ceres was very cold, the craters would quickly deform over time, like flowing glaciers on Earth or flowing viscous honey.”adds Sorey, who also explains that Ceres’ curious composition made her his evolution did not go as expected. What’s the key? A mixture of hard rock and ice of which the planet is made.

This mixture caused Frozen water of Ceres is much strongertherefore, ice craters remained on its surface for billions of years. To reach this conclusion, Pamerlau, Sorey, and Scully used Dawn mission data And computer simulation of the frozen world.

The results are clear: more than 90% of Ceres’ surface may be ice. Thus, Ceres may be another ocean world covered in icelike Europa, Enceladus, Ariel or Miranda. “Our interpretation of all this is that Ceres was once an “oceanic world” like Europa, but with a dirty, murky ocean. As this murky ocean froze over time, it created an ice crust with some rocky material trapped in it.”– says Sorey.