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

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.

NASA's Hubble telescope had photographed a light spot on the dwarf planet in 2004, but "Ceres' bright spot can now be seen to have a companion of lesser brightness, but apparently in the same basin," principle investigator Chris Russell said in a statement. He speculated that the spots have a "volcanolike origin," but said higher-resolution photos are needed to make any firm conclusion.

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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