Take a flight over mysterious planet Ceres

This one's a must watch! Take a flight over the ‘alien spots’ of dwarf planet Ceres, in this video made with images from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft…

The simulated flyover was made by the mission’s camera team at Germany’s national aeronautics and space research center (DLR). This vid is from JPL, published on Jan 29, 2016. Click on full screen and HD!

a reply to: OrionHunterX

Very cool. I hope we'll get to see actual filmed clips in this detail and distance of various celestial bodies soon.

Thanks for the video

Double post!

I was wondering if Ceres might have been a moon of the planet that used to be where the asteroid belt is now.

Either way cool video. Thanks for sharing.

originally posted by: Xcathdra
I was wondering if Ceres might have been a moon of the planet that used to be where the asteroid belt is now.

If you could clump all the asteroids in the belt (including Ceres) into one single body, it would be smaller than the Moon. So, no, it doesn't look like there used to be a planet there. Rather, those asteroids are probably the "bits and pieces" left over from the formation of the Solar System, and formed into a belt through gravitational influence from Mars and Jupiter.

originally posted by: wildespace

originally posted by: Xcathdra
I was wondering if Ceres might have been a moon of the planet that used to be where the asteroid belt is now.

If you could clump all the asteroids in the belt (including Ceres) into one single body, it would be smaller than the Moon. So, no, it doesn't look like there used to be a planet there. Rather, those asteroids are probably the "bits and pieces" left over from the formation of the Solar System, and formed into a belt through gravitational influence from Mars and Jupiter.

I disagree with that summation, because other possibilities are just as possible.

What if there was a planet there that fell apart for one reason or another, but all the bits and pieces did not stay in the planetary orbit, but were flung out in space, and pelted the other planets in the form of "asteroid rain". That would account for many of the meteor hits on the moon, mars and the other planets. Besides, I doubt very seriously any estimate of the size of the planet that could have been there, could even be close to the truth.

a reply to: All Seeing Eye
Possibilities are possible (heh, I like saying things like that), but we also have the established consensus like Vesta being an example of a primeval planetoid, and many asteroids being low density (aka "rubble pile"). Those things signify the asteroids being chunks of proto-planetary material that failed to coalesce into a full planet.

originally posted by: Xcathdra
I was wondering if Ceres might have been a moon of the planet that used to be where the asteroid belt is now.

Either way cool video. Thanks for sharing.

There was never a planet there, not enough debris to even form one. Jupiter keeps us from having a 4th rocky planet, sigh, Jupiter why you hate on the inner planets?

originally posted by: All Seeing Eye

originally posted by: wildespace

originally posted by: Xcathdra
I was wondering if Ceres might have been a moon of the planet that used to be where the asteroid belt is now.

If you could clump all the asteroids in the belt (including Ceres) into one single body, it would be smaller than the Moon. So, no, it doesn't look like there used to be a planet there. Rather, those asteroids are probably the "bits and pieces" left over from the formation of the Solar System, and formed into a belt through gravitational influence from Mars and Jupiter.

I disagree with that summation, because other possibilities are just as possible.

What if there was a planet there that fell apart for one reason or another, but all the bits and pieces did not stay in the planetary orbit, but were flung out in space, and pelted the other planets in the form of "asteroid rain". That would account for many of the meteor hits on the moon, mars and the other planets. Besides, I doubt very seriously any estimate of the size of the planet that could have been there, could even be close to the truth.

Why would 1/10 of the planet stay in place and the rest fly off?

There was never a planet in the asteroid belt because of jupiter.

originally posted by: Vector99

originally posted by: Xcathdra
I was wondering if Ceres might have been a moon of the planet that used to be where the asteroid belt is now.

Either way cool video. Thanks for sharing.

There was never a planet there, not enough debris to even form one. Jupiter keeps us from having a 4th rocky planet, sigh, Jupiter why you hate on the inner planets?

What is it that Jupiter does to cause this?

a reply to: nonspecific

It has a really big gravitational pull on the entire solar system. Asteroid belt just happens to be right next to it, well in space terms. I would guess that.

a reply to: Vector99

Why would 1/10 of the planet stay in place and the rest fly off?

There was never a planet in the asteroid belt because of jupiter.

Because, maybe, we have planetary mechanics, and solar system mechanics, ALL WRONG. The way I see it is, we have 5 billion years worth of ignorance to sort through. If Jupiter was such a magnetic suck to the whole area, why are there still any asteroids left in the asteroid belt? Would not of Jupiter drew them all in by now??? And besides, Jupiter may have been much smaller at one time, and I cant see any reliable way to determine the size of planets 4 billion years ago, except for earth.

In theory, Ceres, is not a planet but, a planetary core, anchored in its racetrack around the sun. How do you come to the conclusion 1/10 of the planet remains? Why 1/10?