Picture: A false-colour infrared map of Ceres shows bright regions in red and dark regions in blue. The circular blue feature near the centre may be an impact crater, while the nature of the reddish patches is unclear. Black patches at the poles are due to a lack of data (Image: B Carry/C Dumas et al./Keck)
The surface composition of the solar system’s largest asteroid Ceres now can be better determined! Thanks to the infrared light in which it has been mapped in fine detail for the first time. The interior of the asteroid is believed to be 25% water ice.
Though in 2003 and 2004, the Hubble Space Telescope captured visible light images of Ceres, also mapping the asteroid in ultraviolet light in 2001, with the images revealing bright and dark patches on the asteroid, the astronomers still failed to find exactly what the patches represent!
This new step forward now will be solving the mystery by obtaining the first high-resolution images of Ceres in infrared light. It is better than visible or UV light at distinguishing chemicals. Thanks to Benoit Carry of the Paris-Meuden Observatory in France and his team.
