NASA's Dawn Mission Finds Young Cryovolcano on Dwarf Planet Ceres

  • Released Thursday, September 1st, 2016
  • Updated Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023 at 1:48PM
  • ID: 12346

Analysis of images from NASA's Dawn mission reveals that dwarf planet Ceres hosts an unexpectedly young cryovolcano that formed with the past billion years.

Read the full NASA.gov story here: http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/ceres-cryo-volcano

Read the full paper appearing Sep 2 in the journal Science here: [link to come]

Read the AAAS news release here: eurekalert.org

For more Ceres images and animations, visit the JPL Photojournal: photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov

Web Short

Music credits:

"Farewell to the King" by Richard Friedman [ASCAP]; Jefandyo Music SESAC; Killer Tracks Production Music

"Out of Control" by Amanda Leigh Wilson [PRS] and Stephen William Cornish [PRS]; Atmosphere Music Ltd PRS; Killer Tracks Production Music

"Seven Sitars" by Chris Constantinou [PRS] and Paul Frazer [PRS]; Killer Tracks BMI; Killer Tracks Production Music

Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.

Animation - Cryovolcano Formation

GIF - Cryovolcanism

GIF - Cryovolcanism

GIF - Ahuna Mons

GIF - Ahuna Mons

Raw Interview Clips - Dr. Ottaviano Ruesch

Interview with Dr. Ottaviano Ruesch, NASA Postdoctoral Fellow, in the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center studio.

0:00 - Ottaviano Ruesch Introduction

0:12 - Before Dawn arrived at Ceres, what did you expect to find?

0:21 - What does the shape of Ahuna Mons tell you about its formation?

0:52 - What does the brightness and color of Ahuna Mons tell you about its age?

1:08 - What are the three lines of evidence that Ahuna Mons is a young feature?

1:49 - Why were you surprised to find that Ahuna Mons is a young feature?

2:10 - How does this activity make you appreciate spacecraft exploration?

2:32 - What do you need for cryomagma?

2:58 - What makes this instance of cryovolcanism unique?

3:18 - What is Ceres' role in planetary science?

3:52 - How does dwarf planet Ceres related to dwarf planet Pluto?

4:20 - Room Tone

Raw Interview Clips - Dr. Lucy McFadden

Interview with Dr. Lucy McFadden, Planetary Scientist, in the NASA Goddar Space Flight Center Studio.

0:00 - Lucy McFadden Introduction

0:17 - What is Ceres?

0:34 - What is Dawn?

1:15 - What is Ahuna Mons?

1:49 - How do you know Ahuna Mons didn't form from an impact crater?

2:26 - What does the shape of Ahuna Mons tell you about its formation?

3:30 - What makes this instance of cryovolcanism unique?

4:40 - What is the heat source for this cryovolcano?

5:55- Room Tone

For More Information

See http://nasa.gov/dawn

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Missions

This visualization is related to the following missions: