Scientists using the
Herschel space observatory have made the first definitive detection
of water vapor on the largest object in the asteroid belt,
Ceres.
Plumes of water vapor
are thought to shoot up periodically from Ceres when portions of
its icy surface warm slightly. Ceres is classified as a dwarf
planet, a solar system body bigger than an asteroid and smaller
than a planet.
Herschel is a
European Space Agency (ESA) mission with NASA contributions.
“This is the first
time water vapor has been unequivocally detected on Ceres or any
other object in the asteroid belt and provides proof that Ceres has
an icy surface and an atmosphere,” said Michael Küppers of ESA in
Spain, lead author of a paper in the
journal Nature.
The results come at
the right time for NASA’s Dawn mission, which is on its way to
Ceres after spending more than a year orbiting the large asteroid
Vesta. Dawn is scheduled to arrive at Ceres in the spring of 2015,
when it will take the closest look ever at its surface.
Above is an artist’s
conception of Ceres in the asteroid belt, which lies between the
orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
For more on the
discovery, see this NASA press release.
(2014-02-06 10:20:08) 
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