Scientists have long debated the origins of Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Some evidence suggested Ceres may have formed farther from the Sun and migrated inward over time. New research using data from NASA’s Dawn mission offers support for the idea that Ceres was born in the asteroid belt.
Studying images of the Consus crater on Ceres, scientists detected remnants of salty water brought to the surface from Ceres’ interior over billions of years. Significantly, the material contained ammonium, which was thought to be unstable close to the Sun. However, the discovery associates ammonium with briny water from Ceres’ mantle, indicating it formed where it currently resides.
The ammonium was likely part of Ceres’ material from the beginning. As cryovolcanic activity transported briny water to the crust over aeons, ammonium seeped into minerals like a sponge. Impacts then exposed these deposits. Additional ammonium-rich material in deeper craters suggests higher concentrations in Ceres’ core.
This research, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, provides the first direct link between ammonium and waters from Ceres’ interior. It supports the model of Ceres as an asteroid belt native, resolving long-standing questions about the dwarf planet’s origin.
Source: Space
