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A big hole in the ground has helped scientists piece together the structure of the dwarf planet Ceres. It's the largest member of the asteroid belt — about a quarter the size of the Moon. The hole shows that Ceres has layers, like a bigger planet or moon. A spacecraft studied Ceres from orbit for three years. Its most impressive discovery was Occator Crater. It's almost 60 miles wide and two miles deep. Big white blotches decorate its floor — deposits of salt. Occator probably formed about 20 million years ago, when a space rock hit Ceres. Recent work suggests there was a layer of salty, muddy water about 30 miles below the site. The impact fractured the crust, allowing some of the brine to leak into the crater floor. The water evaporated, leaving the salt. The crater also is marked by dozens of small rounded hills. They resemble features on Earth known as pingoes. They formed when water surged from below, pushing up the top layer of rocks and ice. Occator Crater and other features reveal that Ceres has several layers. Two of those layers — the crust and mantle — are separated by a layer of muddy brine — which can sometimes leak onto the surface. Ceres shines at its best for the year right now. It rises at sunset, is in view all night, and is brightest for the year. Through binoculars, it looks like a small, faint star to the lower left of the bright star Aldebaran as they climb into good view in the east by 9:30 or 10. Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory
The 365 Days of Astronomy, the daily podcast of the International Year of Astronomy 2009
Using a neutron spectrometer onboard the Dawn spacecraft, scientists have found elevated concentrations of hydrogen in Ceres' Occator Crater, which provides evidence of an icy crust. Plus, everything is on fire in the western United States, and we review “The Past is Red” by Catherynne M. Valente. We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too! Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://astrogear.spreadshirt.com/ for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations. Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by Astrosphere New Media. http://www.astrosphere.org/ Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.
Using a neutron spectrometer onboard the Dawn spacecraft, scientists have found elevated concentrations of hydrogen in Ceres' Occator Crater, which provides evidence of an icy crust. Plus, everything is on fire in the western United States, and we review “The Past is Red” by Catherynne M. Valente.
NASA's Dawn spacecraft turned science fiction into science fact by using ion propulsion to explore the two largest bodies in the main asteroid belt, Vesta and Ceres.
Podcast for audio and video - NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
NASA's Dawn spacecraft turned science fiction into science fact by using ion propulsion to explore the two largest bodies in the main asteroid belt, Vesta and Ceres.
New time, see RBG, Facebook vs Jefferson, AI and Humans, Humans as AI, Humans as resources, Mistrust of tech, AI better then humans medical addition, space mission, CFCs found, and much more with Miles and Lyle.Time Split to the Nanosecond Is Precisely What Wall Street WantsFacebook Flags Declaration of Independence as Hate SpeechWhitelisting - WikipediaBlack sheep - WikipediaQuotations on the Jefferson MemorialBox CEO Aaron Levie says mistrust of Google and Facebook could spreadThe rise of 'pseudo-AI': how tech firms quietly use humans to do bots' workThe Turk - WikipediaChinese AI beats 15 doctors in tumor diagnosis competitionDawn's Latest Orbit Reveals Dramatic New Views of Occator CraterDawn Mission | CeresSources of banned CFCs found through their advertising
More than 300 bright spots have been located on the surface of Ceres. Scientists with NASA's Dawn mission say the bright material indicates the dwarf planet is an active, evolving world.
Podcast for audio and video - NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
More than 300 bright spots have been located on the surface of Ceres. Scientists with NASA's Dawn mission say the bright material indicates the dwarf planet is an active, evolving world.
So what is that white stuff that NASA's Dawn spacecraft found in Occator Crater on Ceres? What about that four mile high mountain or “pyramid”? We sort the wheat from the chaff. The International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 44 crew partook of the first edible harvest from the NASA's VEGGIE experiment becoming the first humans to harvest food grown in space while on orbit. We highlight efforts to use Asteroids as fueling depots for future deep space missions, and mention the successful spacewalk conducted by cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Kornienko on the station's Russian segment. We look at an unusual experiment flying on board Japan's HTV 5 cargo vehicle to be launched to the ISS on Sunday August 16th. CBS News had a worthy feature on light pollution and its impact on ground based astronomy, we visit the piece for comment. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden sent a letter to Congress saying due to Congressional action, NASA was forced to extend the launch services contract with Russia into 2019 to the tune of $490 Million. Eric Berger of the Houston Chronicle had some thoughts on that topic similar to our own and we debate. We visit the NTSB's findings of the October 31 Virgin Galactic accident released on July 28th.. Our Spinoff of the week: A NASA Sensor allows plants to send a text to farmers to say “Can I have some water, please?” Click Here for more information on the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) Show recorded 8/3/2015 Hosts this week: Kassy Tamanini a.k.a. CraftLass & Gene Mikulka