Ceres!

[Dotini]

Here's couple of blogs to keep tabs on, and research past updates.

http://dawnblog.jpl.nasa.gov/2015/03/06 ... l-march-6/

http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-la ... guide.html

[Metryq]

A member on a sci-fi forum suggested the bright spots on Ceres might be reflections from "Snoopy." I doubt the ascent stage of a spent lunar module could have "climbed" all the way out to Ceres, but thought the speculation was interesting enough to repost here.

MANT! wrote:
Ya know it could be Apollo 10's lunar module..

The Search for 'Snoopy': Astronomers & Students Hunt for NASA's Lost Apollo 10 Module

Though it's probably just ice...

Though stranger things have happened...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J002E3

[Dotini]

Speculation is on "active ice plumes", possibly powered by sunlight or internal pressure, as the lights are now understood to rise above the crater floor in Ceres' morning and fade at dusk.

http://www.nature.com/news/bright-spots ... ce-1.17139

Vaguely similar plumes recently seen on Mars seem to be associated with localized magnetic bubbles. But we should learn much more after Dawn, now said to be captured by Ceres, orbits back around to view the sunlit side next month.

[viscount aero]

Speculation is on "active ice plumes", possibly powered by sunlight or internal pressure, as the lights are now understood to rise above the crater floor in Ceres' morning and fade at dusk.

http://www.nature.com/news/bright-spots ... ce-1.17139

Vaguely similar plumes recently seen on Mars seem to be associated with localized magnetic bubbles. But we should learn much more after Dawn, now said to be captured by Ceres, orbits back around to view the sunlit side next month.

But why are there no shadows cast by the "plumes"? A plume is a physical structure and will leave traces of this structure as shadows across the land. For example, cloud cover leaves shade and shadows. Why is this not addressed in the press release?

[D_Archer]

Bright spots on Ceres could be active ice:
http://www.nature.com/news/bright-spots ... ce-1.17139

Ice everywhere

Regards,
Daniel

[dahlenaz]

I haven't been looking into this subject to any great depth but this information
seems important enough to chime in here.

Through an experiment done by Billy Yelverton we have a very
useful demonstration of bright-spot formation in the early stage
of dielectric breakdown..
youtube.com/watch?v=wDO7aHpZjK8

You will probably miss these features if you only view the video
at full speed so use the youtube-player's slow-mo function
at 1/4-speed and you will see clearly the
manifestation of what looks like ball-lightning and may help
to offer a way to test electric effects and determine if some similarity
can be found in what is causing the bright-spots on Ceres. The temperature
measurements my be one place to start a comparison.

Unfortunately, this is not highspeed footage or tape-digital so some detail
is lost between recording packets when viewed in slo-mo.

I have also placed an abreviated half-speed screen-capture video at my channel as unlisted
so here is the link: you tu.be/6Vh5BhfQRkw
This experiment may be a huge boost to making an electric case, but,
we should not overlook diverse details and considerations....

One detail that was mentioned earlier pointed out that the orbiter was approaching
in the same direction as the ex-moons' rotation ,which is quite fast. So, there
could have been periods where syncronous orientation was held at a favorable
angle for light reflection and pixal saturation..

Additionally the elevation map shows a high feature across the crater producing
the dual bright-spot... d..z

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[Bomb20]

Could the following information outrule electric causes?

As the Dawn spacecraft closes in, scientists have realized there are multiple bright spots, and infrared imaging has revealed that while some of them are the same temperature as the surrounding area, at least one is much colder

I imagined that electric processes would increase temperatures in the relevant areas!?

[dahlenaz]

Could the following information outrule electric causes?

As the Dawn spacecraft closes in, scientists have realized there are multiple bright spots, and infrared imaging has revealed that while some of them are the same temperature as the surrounding area, at least one is much colder

I imagined that electric processes would increase temperatures in the relevant areas!? :o

This is the primary reason for my suggestion that there be a comparison made of the beads seen
in the experiments and their temperature.. I too would expect a higher temp than the surface.

If someone has a suggestion for how to get a temperature estimation of the beads please pass it on.
He is planning another run to attempt to hold the voltage at the level where the beads formed in
abundence, rather than increasing voltage as was done for this crater-formation experiment
in a CO2 environment over a pure carbon test-bed... d..z

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[willendure]

Any more Ceres images coming soon? I thought its supposed to come back from the dark side some time in April?

[dahlenaz]

Any more Ceres images coming soon? I thought its supposed to come back from the dark side some time in April?

An April 10th image sequence is offered at this link to Emily's planetary blog and it provides a good
example of "ideal angle for reflection" of light off surfaces from a similar area as that angle is maintained..
It is a polar view as Ceres spins below..
High features can also be seen to offer bright spots from the dark-side. d..z

http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-la ... orlds.html

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[seasmith]

dahlenaz » Mon Apr 20, 2015 9:53 am

dahlenez, could you please recopy those shortened links in that earlier post, so they can be viewed ?

thank you, s

[dahlenaz]

dahlenaz » Mon Apr 20, 2015 9:53 am

dahlenez, could you please recopy those shortened links in that earlier post, so they can be viewed ?

thank you, s

Ya sure,, in a bit when i figure out what went wrong... Copy and pasted them so maybe just add http:// d...z

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[dahlenaz]

dahlenaz » Mon Apr 20, 2015 9:53 am

dahlenez, could you please recopy those shortened links in that earlier post, so they can be viewed ?

thank you, s

Try this for the abreviated one at half speed.

http://youtu.be/6Vh5BhfQRkw

And this for the original, which should be watched at 1/4 speed at for at least the beginning
of each discharge portion of the run. I think they are at 3:40ish and 9 minutes in. d..z

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDO7aHpZjK8

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[D_Archer]

New image:


From:
http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/Ceres_bri ... o_view.asp

One circular spot in the middle and a more of a line from the middle to the rim ( -- and 0).

Does not look like reflection; there are no lines to reflect, the crater floor is flat. The middle circular spot is at the exact location of a central crater peak.

Regards,
Daniel

[dahlenaz]

New image:
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/archive/PIA19064.gif
From:
http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/Ceres_bri ... o_view.asp

One circular spot in the middle and a more of a line from the middle to the rim ( -- and 0).

Does not look like reflection; there are no lines to reflect, the crater floor is flat. The middle circular spot is at the exact location of a central crater peak.

Regards,
Daniel

If you play that animation frame by frame you will see that the first bright spot comes from the far edge (rim) of an
overlapping crater and then its outside edge ahead of it illuminates,, then at the end the inside edge of the adjacent
crater illuminates.. At the junction between overlapping craters there can occur more than enough varied angles
to cause sustained reflections in close proximity and some very exposed (appearing high) features due to the
adjacent dished out area... d...z

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