Strange lights on dwarf planet Ceres have scientists perplexed

originally posted by: Farlander
I'm right there with you about not knowing how to attach a photo.

But if I did, I'd put up that Giorgio Tsokolous meme that says:

I'm not saying it was aliens,

BUT IT WAS ALIENS.

Lol, It is interesting though.

BTW, can you post a picture on ATC by providing the picture link
that can be found in properties?

Rebel 5

originally posted by: Soylent Green Is People

originally posted by: w810i
I'm guessing right about the time it slips into orbit some sort of "Major" news will break here on earth that will shift focus away from this until it slips all the way out of the mainstream media.

Or sometime after Dawn reaches orbit and investigates the bright spot, science will discover the natural reasons behind the bright spots (exposed ice or whatever), and provide scientifically interesting explanations that some people would find boring because it doesn't involve aliens.

And then years later people will claim "NASA Cover-up" because they were too lazy to read the story or view the images of the natural origin immediately after they were taken....

originally posted by: crunchtyme
Or maybe, Just maybe we've pissed off hostile Beings on that planet, and they've fired a plasma cannon at us which will not reach us until 2024

That makes no sense.

Ceres average distance from Earth is only 2.87 AU. That's only around 24 light minutes from Earth.

originally posted by: openminded2011
I always wondered if at some point in our explorations of the solar system we might find some long abandoned extraterrestrial outpost. This is most probably just a couple of bright impact craters. But one can always hope....

You're not the only one. While Carl Sagan was widely known as a proponent for SETI many here do not know he was also a proponent for SETA (The Search for Extraterrestrial Artifacts) in our solar system. And some searches have already taken place.

Additionally, distinguished Arizona State University and SETI Institute astrophysicist Paul Davies since 2011 has advocated looking for ET artifacts in our solar system, among other places on the moon (2013 Forbes Magazine Article linked)

Im suprised no one thinks its electrostatic discharge. Its in the perfect places at the ridge and center of that crater. Then again im shocked people still think comets are giant snow-ice balls in space.

a reply to: JadeStar

Who knows, aliens might be litterbugs too?

Based on our own civilization, we tend to leave signs of our presence everywhere! What would be funny is finding an alien "artifact" -- going crazy over it and studying it to death...Later on, however, the aliens telling us that it was their equivalent of a cigarette butt.

I think, too, that you have to remember how incredibly dark it is there. Like not being able to see your hand in front of your face. The images make it seem like a "bright" spot, but it's probably just a tiny bit lighter shade of black than the surrounding surface.

It mentioned the patches had an albedo of 40% right? Climate sites suggest ice would be something like 80-90%, but deserts apparently come in at 40% along with dirty ice. Anyone know the albedo of fused regolith?

Leaking internal ocean maybe?

The low ice viscosity resulting from the relative
warmth of Ceres’ surface may have led to geologically rapid relaxation of impact craters and
other topographic features, especially near Ceres’ equator, where temperatures are highest
(Ceres’ obliquity is very low). Similar to Europa, Ceres may be undergoing resurfacing possibly
in the form of cryovolcanism or venting of water vapor (Li et al. 2006). The slow freezing of an
internal ocean, as Ceres’ radiogenic heat wanes, in particular should lead to extensional stresses
at the planet’s surface, which would be conducive to such eruptions or venting.

This is extremely exciting, even if it doesn't turn out to be a SETA candidate.

You guys have NO idea how excited I would get if we found alien garbage.

The optimistic side of me says it's something deserving of this theme music if looked at closer:

But the pessimistic side says it's more likely some natural feature or phenomena we're not exactly familiar with just yet.

Interesting that the spots continue to glow. If it was an ice patch I would expect that only some angles would reflect the light. Other angles would not cause a refection.

It's been proven that water is a lot more abundant throughout the Universe than was previously suspected.

I would think these bright "lights' are just the Sun reflecting off of large sheets of ice on the surface.

a reply to: Baltazar84

Possibly the reenactment of WTC1 and WTC 2 skybeams?!

Ceres eccentric orbit takes it in and out of parts of the somewhat denser parts of the asteroid belt. It is not surprising that it would show some rather recent impacts. We know, from recent impacts caught on the moon, that the craters will be very bright, as it exposes crustal rock, and this would be even brighter on Ceres, since science predicts a water layer under the dusty surface. I say impact crater makes the most sense, however I would love to be surprised.

Just Maybe it always been there ..

probably dust covered then somehow lost the covering to expose the Illuminating shiny service in the Crater !


Just Like Our moon has the same thing in a Few of its own Craters !


Ive seen things

Like Astronaut Filming for a Few Minutes Certain Spots Showing illuminating Centers in Craters having the Cam Pressed on the the Glass porthole ...

The Astronauts were fascinated and Baffled by it Until Later they Realized its from Certain Metal Compounds that impacted the Moon causing the Reflection... from the Sun


I know I know Pic's or It didn't Happen ....









Ceres probably has the same thing ... a Shiny Reflective Substance impact from a Meteor .. or a Small Asteroid etc...
although Much more larger..

a reply to: SkepticOverlord

You had a story picked up by Omni magazine? I have a whole new level of respect for you now. In the 80's Omni was my favorite magazine. I never saw illustrations like it before and the stories were bizarre.

Back on topic. Truth is stranger than fiction. Perhaps you "tapped" into something SO?

"Shining light at" and "smartest scientists unsure" make it sound pretty suggestive....

well you never know..

We need much faster space craft piloted by robots or humans to zip by all of the moons and planets and get a real good look once and for all. I'm hoping this will happen with a private space company. Then the space agencies can build a base on the Moon and launch from there.

a reply to: Baltazar84

To me that looks like a TLP, so could be totally natural. This specific image looks electrostatic in nature.

Edit: Transient Lunar Phenomenon