Fresh views of Ceres but 'spots' remain mysterious

[n2doc]

The Occator Crater, colour-coded to show differences in elevation, and its baffling bright spots


The team behind Nasa's Dawn mission to Ceres has released striking new images, but remains unable to explain the dwarf planet's most intriguing mystery.

Bright spots within a 90km-wide crater have baffled scientists since the probe spotted them on its approach.

Now in orbit around Ceres, Dawn is gathering detailed data about the world's geology and its composition.

Mission researchers described the latest images at the European Planetary Science Congress in Nantes, France.

Currently, their best guess to account for the spots is an expanse of some type of salt - but this is speculation.

more

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34403738


This height-coloured map of Ceres has a resolution of 400m per pixel. The bright spots are in the Occator Crater (centre-right)

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