Publication
Names
  • S. Schröder
  • O. Poch
  • M. Ferrari
  • S. De Angelis
  • R. Sultana
  • S. Potin
  • P. Beck
  • M. C. De Sanctis
  • B. Schmitt
Title
Dwarf planet (1) Ceres surface bluing due to high porosity resulting from sublimation
Abstract
The Dawn mission found that the dominant colour variation on the surface of dwarf planet Ceres is a change of the visible spectral slope, where fresh impact craters are surrounded by blue (negative spectral-sloped) ejecta. The origin of this colour variation is still a mystery. Here we investigate a scenario in which an impact mixes the phyllosilicates present on the surface of Ceres with the water ice just below. In our experiment, Ceres analogue material is suspended in liquid water to create intimately mixed ice particles, which are sublimated under conditions approximating those on Ceres. The sublimation residue has a highly porous, foam-like structure made of phyllosilicates that scattered light in similar blue fashion as the Ceres surface. Our experiment provides a mechanism for the blue colour of fresh craters that can naturally emerge from the Ceres environment.
Keywords
spectroscopy, grating spectrometer, gonio radiometer, bidirectional reflection, bidirectional reflectance spectra, near-IR, molecular solid, ice, water ice, Ceres, asteroids, Solar System
Content
sample, spectral data, experimental physics, planetary sciences, remote sensing
Year
2021
Journal
Nature Communications
Volume
12
Pages
274
Document type
article
Publication state
published
Comments
None
Experiment/Spectra