- Feb 5, 2002
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Water Worlds
In recent years, scientists have learned that one of Earth’s most unique features — its liquid oceans — is far more common throughout the solar system than scientists ever expected.
Take Ceres, a dwarf planet orbiting our Sun inside the asteroid belt, which scientists discovered earlier this year is actually an ocean world, according to Discover Magazine. The discovery of abundant water on other worlds could have huge implications for the search for extraterrestrial life — to the point that NASA astronomer Alan Stern tells Discover that it’s “one of the most profound discoveries in planetary science in the Space Age.”
Freezing Over
Most of the water in the solar system is either tucked away underground, like in Mars’ subterranean lakes, or frozen over, like that on the Moon. But now, NASA research suggests that Ceres was struck by a space rock 20 million years ago that punctured its surface and unleashed a flood of extremely salty water. In order to better understand what happened and to study the oceans, NASA may soon send a spacecraft to touch down on Ceres’ surface, according to Discover.
Continued below.
A NASA scientist heralds "one of the most profound discoveries" of the space age
In recent years, scientists have learned that one of Earth’s most unique features — its liquid oceans — is far more common throughout the solar system than scientists ever expected.
Take Ceres, a dwarf planet orbiting our Sun inside the asteroid belt, which scientists discovered earlier this year is actually an ocean world, according to Discover Magazine. The discovery of abundant water on other worlds could have huge implications for the search for extraterrestrial life — to the point that NASA astronomer Alan Stern tells Discover that it’s “one of the most profound discoveries in planetary science in the Space Age.”
Freezing Over
Most of the water in the solar system is either tucked away underground, like in Mars’ subterranean lakes, or frozen over, like that on the Moon. But now, NASA research suggests that Ceres was struck by a space rock 20 million years ago that punctured its surface and unleashed a flood of extremely salty water. In order to better understand what happened and to study the oceans, NASA may soon send a spacecraft to touch down on Ceres’ surface, according to Discover.
Continued below.
A NASA scientist heralds "one of the most profound discoveries" of the space age
