News in Brief Planetary Science

Water plays big role in shaping dwarf planet Ceres

Ahuna Mons on Ceres

The 4-kilometer-high mountain Ahuna Mons on the dwarf planet Ceres is probably a cryovolcano, new findings suggest. This photo was assembled from images taken by the Dawn spacecraft.

JPL-Caltech/NASA, UCLA, MPS, DLR, IDA

By Christopher Crockett

- More than 2 years ago

Ice volcanoes, patches of water ice and a slew of hydrated minerals paint a picture of dwarf planet Ceres as a geologically active world — one where water has played a starring role.