Talking about different planets and satellites, today we will talk about a cosmic object that is not a planet, not a satellite, not a star, not even a comet. It is Ceres, one of the dwarf planets in the solar system which is closest dwarf planet to the earth.
With
a diameter of 948 km, this dwarf planet is the 25th largest object in the solar
system and the largest in the asteroid belt. The position of the only spherical
object of the asteroid belt has changed many times through the classification.
The discoverer first called it a missing planet. The famous English astronomer
William Herschel later awarded Ceres as the asteroid which was recognized in
1850. Ceres was last recognized as a dwarf planet in 2006. Since Ceres is no
longer the largest asteroid at the moment, the largest asteroid in the asteroid belt is Pallas.
Although the asteroid belt is between Mars and Jupiter, the position of Ceres is somewhat close to that of Mars. Ceres completes one orbit around the Sun in 1,682 days or 4.6 years, as the Earth does. One day of Ceres is just 9 hours as Earth's, which is the shortest time for any member of this solar system to rotate around its own axis. It takes 22 minutes for sunlight to reach this dwarf planet, 41,70,000,000 km away from the Sun. In terms of distance, Ceres is 2.8 times the average distance between the Sun and the Earth. Ceres has an orbital speed of 17.91 km per second and a escape velocity of 0.51 km per second or 1,736 km per hour (Escape Velocity: The lowest velocity which a body must have in order to escape the gravitational attraction of a particular planet, satellite, star or other object.).
Ceres
was formed when our solar family was formed. Jupiter came to the fore as Ceres
was trying to turn itself into a planet by bringing dust and gas together.
Jupiter's intense gravitational pull hampered efforts to form the planet. So
Ceres did not end up as a full planet. That's why scientists say the process of
forming Ceres began but did not end. This is why scientists call this dwarf
planet the embryonic planet. Tiny more dwarf planets were formed with Ceres but
later those dwarf planets either merged with the larger planets or dropped out
of the solar system and went on a journey forever.
The
dwarf planet could not develop into a full-fledged planet due to its low
density, despite the rocky planets having a lot in common with Ceres. Its mass
is half that of Rhea, one of the moons of Saturn. Its total surface area is
about the size of India or the South American country Argentina.
Structurally,
this dwarf planet, unlike other members of the asteroid belt, has a large
number of craters due to cosmic collisions which proves that there have been
many comet and asteroid collisions with this dwarf planet from the past to the
present. The diameter of the largest crater on the surface of Ceres is 260 km.
However, scientists have observed that the number of dents on this dwarf planet
is much less than they have expected.
If
the geology of this Ceres is discussed, it can be seen that inside it there is
a rocky central core which is surrounded by a thick mantle of water ice.
Although the number of layers in the mantle is not yet well known, it is clear
that Ceres is an active cosmic object in terms of geological evolution. The
events of this evolution are entirely dependent on the heat generated inside Ceres
during or after the formation of Ceres.
According
to the geological structure of Ceres, it has huge reservoirs of water inside
it. According to scientists, the total amount of water in Ceres is much higher
than the Earth. It is also speculated that there was an ocean of water at the
beginning of the formation of Ceres, which later sank to the surface, and
perhaps some of it still remains in a liquid state. Although most of it has
frozen. The original surface of Ceres was destroyed by cosmic collisions and
merged with the sea beneath the surface. Different types of salt have been
mixed in the sea water as a result of which the whole sea could not freeze and
turn into ice. Large amounts of ammonia salt and ammonia-containing mud have
been found in Ceres due to collisions with comets or other causes. Later,
evidence of the presence of many other types of salts such as sodium carbonate,
ammonium chloride, ammonium bicarbonate, magnesium sulphate, sulfur dioxide,
etc. was found. In addition, a large amount of graphite has been found here. On
the surface of Ceres, there were found indications of the presence of
compounds, containing carbonates, ammonites and phylosilicates which originated
in contact with water. Carbonated tholin compounds are first identified in the
Ernutel crater. It was later found that this dwarf planet has 20 percent carbon
on its surface. In 2016, irrefutable evidence of water molecules was found in
the Oxo dent and in August 2020, it was widely accepted that there must be an
ocean of water in Ceres.
In
1995, the Hubble Space Telescope discovered a black spot on the Ceres, at 21
degree north latitude and 123 degree east longitude, which was named Piazzi. At
first it was thought to be a dent due to cosmic collision, but in 2004 an
in-depth observation revealed that it was not actually a crater. It is nothing
but just a spot. Later 11 more such spots were discovered. The cause of this
black spot is still not clear to us in a good way.
A
number of white spots have been found in Ceres, such as black spots. Occator is
the brightest white spot on the dwarf planet. All of these regions are thought
to reflect sunlight intensely with the help of ice or salt. A mountain named
Ahuna Mons has been found on the surface of Ceres. It is thought to be a cryo-volcano.
This type of structure produces very cold material instead of heated lava. The
emission from this mountain was seen in 2014. The age of this mountain is
millions of years. There may have been more cryo-volcanoes on the surface of
Ceres, but the existence of that is unknown to us today.
Thus
the water that is rising from the interior of Ceres to its surface may be the
result of the existence of a very thin atmosphere here and we have discovered
it. The Herschel Space Observatory has shown that water vapor has an importance
in this very thin climate.
One
of the surprising facts about Ceres is that it is constantly generating
electrons from its surface due to the regular collision of solar air with water
vapor because there is no ozone layer in its atmosphere. The water in the ocean
below its surface is moving over the surface through cryo-volcanoes and is
constantly generating electrons with the collision of solar wind. Apart from
that, the other effects of the solar wind on Ceres are a matter of research to
the scientists.
While
orbiting in space, it is normal for different planets, satellites or dwarf
planets to move closest and farthest from Earth at different times. The last
time Ceres came very close to Earth was in 1814. This will happen again in
2081, that is, after 267 years, the earth and this dwarf planet will come
closer. According to various old documents, the last time Ceres came to Earth
was easy to see with the help of ordinary binoculars or telescopes. Even people
with very sharp eyesight could see better with the naked eye without the help
of any instrument.
Although
various space agencies have adopted various plans aimed at Ceres, they have
since been repealed for various reasons. To date, the only US space agency,
NASA, has conducted a single space mission to Ceres. Proceeding as planned
since 2004, the Dawn spacecraft finally flew to Ceres on 27th September 2006.
The spacecraft first observed the asteroid Vesta, diameter of 525 km, at a
distance of 10,20,000 km. After 13 months of work, the spacecraft was on its
way to its final destination. On 13th January 2015, it took the first image of
Ceres and sent it to the earth. The spacecraft then made its flyby over Ceres
from different heights at different times. () For example, on March 6, 2015,
with a distance of 61,000 km, on 23rd April 2015, with a distance of 13,500 km,
on May 8, 2015, with a distance of 4,400 km, on 29th May 2015, with a distance
of 1,480 km, and at the end of July of the same year. Dawn made its flyby over
Ceres an altitude of 375 km. Between July and October 2018, Dawn came within 35
km of Ceres. But the mission officially ended on November 1, 2018, as the Dawn
spacecraft ran out of fuel.
More
important to scientists is the fact that Ceres is one of the few places in
space where life is being explored. They speculate that if Ceres is alive,
there might be some microorganisms, such as bacteria. Even if there is no
living thing, there must be some evidence that life once existed. There is also
another reason why Ceres has become a focal point of interest for scientists.
That is, if life did not flourish there, Ceres could be chosen as a possible
destination for future ambitious plans for terraforming.
To know details about terraforming link of the article 'Terraforming, What Is It Actually ?' is provided:
https://spacejagat.blogspot.com/2021/02/terraforming-what-is-it-actually.html
Hence,
to know the future, one has to understand the present more deeply. So in order
to make some plans with Ceres, first of all we have to know this dwarf planet
more closely and for that scientists have to try to implement that plan from
now on. It is not possible to say now which planet, satellite or dwarf planet
will take the responsibility of protecting our existence in the future. So we
have to think about the possible path and take continuous steps to implement
that plan.
DECLARATION:
All The Images Have Been Sourced From Google.
