Interesting video.

Fly Over Ceres in New Video

A new animated video of dwarf planet Ceres, based on images taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, provides a unique perspective of this heavily cratered, mysterious world.

The video is based on observations of Ceres that were taken from Dawn's first mapping orbit, at an altitude of 8,400 miles (13,600 kilometers), as well as the most recent navigational images taken from 3,200 miles (5,100 kilometers).

https://youtu.be/uSaLVAl-ObY
Video



http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/dawn/fly-over-ceres-in-new-video

Right now I'm only interested in high resolution real images of the bright spots.

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Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

The JPL released an image of the bright spots on Ceres today. It was taken from the newly assumed survey orbit, with a resolution of 1400 meters per pixel, the best yet.
A few new details can be discerned, but the overall shapes of the two largest spots appears about the same; one semicircular, the other rectangular.
It seems obvious that the high light level of the spots is washing out the details of their structure. It would probably be helpful to have an image of them with much less light exposure.
This survey orbit will last for the rest of the month. It's to be hoped that time will be found to take such an image. Link to the new image of Ceres' bright spots, below:

http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpegMod/PIA19568_modest.jpg

I'm waiting for the color pics...

In the news.

We will all die before NASA identifies’ Ceres’ bright spots



Dawn’s next orbit will take it within 1,000 miles of the dwarf planet

As sure as the Sun rises in the east, NASA's Dawn spacecraft continues to orbit ever closer to the dwarf planet Ceres. It's now in its second orbit, just 2,700 miles from the surface. As such, it's given scientists the sharpest, highest-resolution images of Ceres to date. Despite the quality images, scientists still have no idea as to how to identify Ceres' mysterious bright spots, which have vexed professional and amateur astronomers alike since their discovery. Are they ice? Salt? Alien graffiti? At this rate, we may never know!

http://www.natureworldreport.com/2015/06/we-will-all-die-before-nasa-identifies-ceres-bright-spots/

My problem with them being ice or salt is that those substances have been seen before on the surface of other objects and not displayed this level of reflectivity. But, in the end, I'm guessing that, right or wrong, they will be identified as a natural phenomenon.

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Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

shore is starting to look like some sort of Alien structure be interesting the next pass if they release ant pictures .

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Is there any spectral analysis of the light emitted by those points? Maybe Dawn has no such instrument, but Hubble may have a spectrometer. Is it too far away?
Tullio
Edit. Dawn has both an infrared and a visible spectrometer, built by SELEX, Italy. so there should be spectral data.

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Yes,

The most likely explanation may be ice. This should easily be determined by the spectrometer on board.

Another could be gypsum --like White Sands New Mexico--but it's hard to imagine this from what looks like a solid rock mini-planet.

Maybe there is a natural nuclear fission reactor, like the one found a Oklo in Africa in 1972, producing some heat.
Tullio

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The previous spectrometer readings of the bright spots on Ceres showed them to have the same infrared signature as their darker surroundings. This was unexpected, since a lighter-colored area should reflect more and absorb less energy from the Sun. This should leave it cooler than darker areas.
There were some reservations expressed about these results. The resolution of the spectrometer may have been too low to focus exclusively on the bright spots. Interference from the surrounding area may have compromised the readings.
With Dawn much nearer Ceres now, new infrared readings would presumably be more convincing. If the readings now show a lower temperature for the bright spots, than for their surroundings, the seeming mystery will disappear. But suppose the bright spots still show the same amount of heat as the darker surrounding area. Any light colored geological material, be that ice, or salt or mineral of any sort is then going to be a much less satisfactory explanation for the bright spots. .

It just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Now they have discovered a three mile high peak that resembles a pyramid on Ceres. I wonder where this is going to go.

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Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

It just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Now they have discovered a three mile high peak that resembles a pyramid on Ceres. I wonder where this is going to go.

Aliens +1

http://www.cnet.com/news/3-mile-tall-pyramid-more-bright-spots-spied-on-ceres/
NASA spies 3-mile-tall 'pyramid,' more bright spots on Ceres

It just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Now they have discovered a three mile high peak that resembles a pyramid on Ceres. I wonder where this is going to go.

Guys, it's not a pyramid...it's a Gorch!
;)

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non-profit org. Play4Life in Zagreb, Croatia, EU

Updated.

Ceres Spots Continue to Mystify in Latest Dawn Images

The closer we get to Ceres, the more intriguing the distant dwarf planet becomes. New images of Ceres from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft provide more clues about its mysterious bright spots, and also reveal a pyramid-shaped peak towering over a relatively flat landscape.

“The surface of Ceres has revealed many interesting and unique features. For example, icy moons in the outer solar system have craters with central pits, but on Ceres central pits in large craters are much more common. These and other features will allow us to understand the inner structure of Ceres that we cannot sense directly," said Carol Raymond, deputy principal investigator for the Dawn mission, based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.


NASA's Dawn spacecraft took this image, which includes an interesting mountain in the upper right, on June 6, 2015.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA


More images

The JPL released a new image of the brightest of the bright spots on Ceres today. The light exposure is so low that the rest of the surface is nearly black. The bright spots, particularly the largest one, are still not well defined; still overwhelmed by what must be an intense luminosity.
Five of the smaller bright spots appear to be arrayed in a pattern like the five spots on a die.
Link to new image below:
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19584
Magnify image with your computer to observe details.

Does look a dice. The answer is simple. Its a galactic Casino. (Play a little Star wars bar music) Probably has Hans Solo as the bouncer/Security.

On the serious side If there was an atmosphere I would suggest frozen CO2 but this isn't Mars. Frozen Ice probably still makes the most sense. Comets and asteroids could have helped the process along. Salt sounds interesting but it usually needs a process to deposit and again no atmosphere.

I do hope it gets figured out and not ends in limbo. Will 2 or 3 times the resolution resolve this?

Bob

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Sometimes I wonder, what happened to all the people I gave directions to?
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SETI@home classic workunits 4,321
SETI@home classic CPU time 22,169 hours

The JPL released a new image of the brightest of the bright spots on Ceres today. The light exposure is so low that the rest of the surface is nearly black. The bright spots, particularly the largest one, are still not well defined; still overwhelmed by what must be an intense luminosity.
Five of the smaller bright spots appear to be arrayed in a pattern like the five spots on a die.
Link to new image below:
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19584
Magnify image with your computer to observe details.

well, in this kind of darkness...I would start to speculate that it's a "bioluminoscent bacteria" - might be out 1st Alien!
;)

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non-profit org. Play4Life in Zagreb, Croatia, EU

I would almost agree with you Klik but the fact that there is no atmosphere puts a crimp on it. Not impossible but very unlikely.

Most likely a mineral answer of some sort and ice is still the best answer IMHO.

Bob

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Sometimes I wonder, what happened to all the people I gave directions to?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SETI@home classic workunits 4,321
SETI@home classic CPU time 22,169 hours

I would almost agree with you Klik but the fact that there is no atmosphere puts a crimp on it. Not impossible but very unlikely.

Most likely a mineral answer of some sort and ice is still the best answer IMHO.

Bob

in the darkness? don't think so...

so here is my guess: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaerobic_organism

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non-profit org. Play4Life in Zagreb, Croatia, EU