Скачать или смотреть Beyond the Rocks: The Icy Heart of the Dwarf Planet Ceres

Here are some interesting facts about the dwarf planet Ceres:

Discovery and Classification:

Ceres was the first asteroid ever discovered, on January 1, 1801, by Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi.
For about 50 years, it was considered a planet.  
As more objects were found in the asteroid belt, Ceres was reclassified as an asteroid.
In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) reclassified Ceres as a dwarf planet, along with Pluto.  
Ceres is the only dwarf planet located in the inner solar system, within the orbit of Neptune and in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.  
Size and Mass:

Ceres is the smallest of the recognized dwarf planets.
It has a mean diameter of about 939.4 kilometers (583.7 miles), making it almost as wide as the state of Texas.
Ceres contains about 25% of the total mass of the entire asteroid belt.  
However, it is still quite small, with a mass only about 0.01% of Earth's mass and about 1/78th the mass of Earth's Moon.
Orbit and Rotation:

Ceres orbits the Sun at an average distance of 413.7 million kilometers (2.8 astronomical units).  
Its orbital period (one year on Ceres) is about 4.6 Earth years (1,680 Earth days).  
Ceres has a relatively short day length of about 9.1 Earth hours.
Composition and Structure:

Ceres is significantly less dense than the rocky asteroids in the inner belt, suggesting a large fraction of water ice. It may be composed of as much as 25% water.  
It likely has a layered interior: a rocky core and a mantle made of water ice. There might even be a liquid water ocean beneath the icy mantle.  
Ceres' crust is dusty and rocky, with deposits of various salts, including magnesium sulfate, unlike Earth's table salt.  
It has a very thin atmosphere (exosphere) that contains water vapor, possibly produced by ice volcanoes or the sublimation (transition from solid to gas) of near-surface ice.  
Surface Features:

Ceres' surface is peppered with many young, small craters, with none larger than 280 km in diameter. This suggests that larger impacts may have been softened by an icy mantle.  
It has mysterious bright spots, most notably in the Occator Crater. These are highly reflective materials, likely water ice or salts.  
Evidence suggests cryovolcanism (volcanoes erupting water, ammonia, or methane instead of molten rock) has occurred on Ceres, potentially contributing to its water vapor atmosphere and surface features.  
Potential for Life:

Ceres is considered one of the locations in our solar system that might harbor life due to the abundance of water and the presence of organic chemicals. If life exists, it would likely be in the form of small microbes similar to bacteria on Earth.  
Exploration:

Ceres was the first dwarf planet to be visited by a spacecraft. NASA's Dawn mission arrived at Ceres in March 2015 and orbited it for about three and a half years, providing detailed maps and data about its surface and composition.  
Ceres is a unique and intriguing body in our solar system, bridging the characteristics of rocky planets and icy moons, making it a key object in understanding the formation and evolution of the solar system.
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