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Surface Water-Ice Deposits in the Northern Shadowed Regions of CeresCeres, a dwarf planet located in the main asteroid belt, has a low bulk density, and models predict that a substantial amount of water ice is present in its mantle and outer shell. The Herschel telescope and the Dawn spacecraft have observed the release of water vapor from Ceres, and exposed water ice has been detected by Dawn on its surface at mid-latitudes. Water molecules from endogenic and exogenic sources can also be cold-trapped in permanent shadows at high latitudes, as happens on the Moon and Mercury. Here we present the first image-based survey of Ceres's northern permanent shadows and report the discovery of bright deposits in cold traps. We identify a minimum of 634 permanently shadowed craters. Bright deposits are detected on the floors of just 10 of these craters in multiscattered light. We spectroscopically identify one of the bright deposits as water ice. This detection strengthens the evidence that permanently shadowed areas have preserved water ice on airless planetary bodies.
Document ID
20170000476
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Platz, T.
(Max-Planck Inst. for Solar System Research Germany)
Nathues, A.
(Max-Planck Inst. for Solar System Research Germany)
Schorghofer, N.
(Hawaii Univ. Honolulu, HI, United States)
Preusker, F.
(Deutsches Zentrum fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. Berlin, Germany)
Mazarico, E.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Schroeder, S. E.
(Deutsches Zentrum fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. Berlin, Germany)
Byrne, S.
(Arizona Univ. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Kneissl, T.
(Freie Univ. Berlin, Germany)
Schmedemann, N.
(Freie Univ. Berlin, Germany)
Combe, J.-P.
(Bear Fight Inst., Inc. Winthrop, WA, United States)
Schaefer, M.
(Max-Planck Inst. for Solar System Research Germany)
Thangjam, G. S.
(Max-Planck Inst. for Solar System Research Germany)
Hoffmann, M.
(Max-Planck Inst. for Solar System Research Germany)
Gutierrez-Marques, P.
(Max-Planck Inst. for Solar System Research Germany)
Landis, M. E.
(Arizona Univ. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Dietrich, W.
(Max-Planck Inst. for Solar System Research Germany)
Ripken, J.
(Max-Planck Inst. for Solar System Research Germany)
Matz, K. D.
(Deutsches Zentrum fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. Berlin, Germany)
Russell, C. T.
(California Univ. Los Angeles, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
January 18, 2017
Publication Date
December 15, 2016
Publication Information
Publication: Nature Astronomy Letters
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
Volume: 1
Issue: 7
e-ISSN: 2397-3366
Subject Category
Astronomy
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN38267
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
Surface Water
Ceres
Ice

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