Astronomers have long been intrigued by the makeup of the asteroid belt’s largest body. When it was first spotted in 1801, Ceres appeared dry and rocky, its surface marked by craters and dents. For ...

Across the outer solar system, some of the tiniest icy satellites are emerging as unlikely candidates for extreme internal oceans, where water may simmer or even boil beneath frozen crusts. Instead of ...

Alfredo has a PhD in Astrophysics and a Master's in Quantum Fields and Fundamental Forces from Imperial College London. Alfredo has a PhD in Astrophysics and a Master's in Quantum Fields and ...

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. For most of humankind’s existence, Earth was the only known ocean-draped world, seemingly unlike any other cosmic isle. But in 1979, ...

'Ceres, we think, is therefore the most accessible icy world in the universe.' When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. The outer crust of ...

Of all the celestial bodies orbiting the sun, Enceladus shines brightest. I mean this literally: This small moon of Saturn reflects nearly all the sunlight that touches its surface, because it is ...

The dwarf planet Ceres hosts a frozen ocean that is almost pure water ice at its surface and becomes ‘dirtier’ with depth, modelling suggests 1. The work reconciles conflicting evidence regarding the ...

18:00 – 19:00 GMT | 13:00 – 14:00 EST | 10:00 – 11:00 PST Join us for this free online event with Dr Russell Arnott, who will dive into the captivating world of why the Antarctic and Arctic Ocean ...

The scars on Ceres should have softened by now. That was the long-running problem. If the dwarf planet’s crust held a great deal of ice, many of its craters should have slowly sagged over geologic ...