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. 2014 Jan 23;505(7484):525-7.
doi: 10.1038/nature12918.

Localized sources of water vapour on the dwarf planet (1) Ceres

Michael Küppers  1 , Laurence O'Rourke  1 , Dominique Bockelée-Morvan  2 , Vladimir Zakharov  2 , Seungwon Lee  3 , Paul von Allmen  3 , Benoît Carry  4 , David Teyssier  1 , Anthony Marston  1 , Thomas Müller  5 , Jacques Crovisier  2 , M Antonietta Barucci  2 , Raphael Moreno  2
Affiliations

Localized sources of water vapour on the dwarf planet (1) Ceres

Michael Küppers et al. Nature. .

Abstract

The 'snowline' conventionally divides Solar System objects into dry bodies, ranging out to the main asteroid belt, and icy bodies beyond the belt. Models suggest that some of the icy bodies may have migrated into the asteroid belt. Recent observations indicate the presence of water ice on the surface of some asteroids, with sublimation a potential reason for the dust activity observed on others. Hydrated minerals have been found on the surface of the largest object in the asteroid belt, the dwarf planet (1) Ceres, which is thought to be differentiated into a silicate core with an icy mantle. The presence of water vapour around Ceres was suggested by a marginal detection of the photodissociation product of water, hydroxyl (ref. 12), but could not be confirmed by later, more sensitive observations. Here we report the detection of water vapour around Ceres, with at least 10(26) molecules being produced per second, originating from localized sources that seem to be linked to mid-latitude regions on the surface. The water evaporation could be due to comet-like sublimation or to cryo-volcanism, in which volcanoes erupt volatiles such as water instead of molten rocks.

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Comment in

  • Solar system: Evaporating asteroid.
    Campins H, Comfort CM. Campins H, et al. Nature. 2014 Jan 23;505(7484):487-8. doi: 10.1038/505487a. Nature. 2014. PMID: 24451536 No abstract available.

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