From: Andrew Johnson
Date: 2005-09-08 10:05:25
Inbox Astronomy – Largest Asteroid May Be ‘Mini Planet’ with Water Ice September 7, 2005 Largest Asteroid May Be ‘Mini Planet’ with Water Ice Get larger image formats Find the entire Hubble News archive, image galleries, and much more at hubblesite.org Observations of Ceres, the largest known asteroid, have revealed that the object may be a “mini planet,” sharing many characteristics of the rocky, terrestrial planets like Earth. Ceres’ mantle, which wraps around the asteroid’s core, may even be composed of water ice. The observations by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope also show that the asteroid has a nearly round shape like Earth’s and may have a rocky inner core and a thin, dusty outer crust. The four Hubble images of Ceres [above] were taken over a 2-hour and 20-minute span, the time it takes the Texas-sized object to complete one quarter of a rotation. One day on Ceres lasts 9 hours. The bright spot that appears in each image is a mystery. See the full release, including: Complete Text More Images Video Fast Facts Q & A Related Links And more! This news release and its supporting materials are permanently archived at: hubblesite.org/news/… You are receiving this email because you are subscribed to the Inbox Astronomy mailing list, which sends notices in HTML whenever there is a new Hubble Space Telescope image, product, or news update. If you would like to unsubscribe or change your email preferences, please go to: hubblesite.org/newsc…
