NASA is perplexed by 'puzzling' bright spots on dwarf planet Ceres

NASA is baffled by two &quot;bright spots&quot; on Ceres

(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA)

published 27 February 2015

The Dawn spacecraft is approaching the dwarf planet Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory are confounded by a photo Dawn sent back from 29,000 miles away.

For now, "this is truly unexpected and still a mystery to us," adds Andreas Natheues at Germany's Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research. Dawn is expected to enter orbit around Ceres on March 16 and spend 16 months orbiting what scientists has previously called an "embryonic planet," stunted by the massive gravity of Jupiter. Hopefully Dawn's sojourn around Ceres will solve the mystery of the twin "bright spots."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

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