Space Related Monday Mystery Solved...?

We know so little about space, it's almost embarrassing. No matter how much we know or learn, it isn't enough.

Sometimes an answer is figured out to one of our many questions, but we can't prove or disprove it beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Ceres Mystery Lights

Photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA

As NASA’s Dawn spacecraft approached the dwarf planet Ceres, it captured some very mysterious images. One of these, taken 47,000 kilometers (29,000 mi) away from the planet, showed abnormally bright spots inside an 80-kilometer-wide (50 mi) crater. Many immediately took these images and ran with them, thinking that they were signs of an alien civilization.

For a few months, even NASA wasn’t exactly sure what these mysterious bright spots were. Theories ranged from aliens to ice, but in late 2015, a study was published in Nature that debunked all those theories. It claimed that the spots were nothing more than salt. The study stated, “These unusual areas are consistent with hydrated magnesium sulfates mixed with dark background material, although other compositions are possible.” Unfortunately, this explanation is not as exciting as aliens, but there are plenty of other space mysteries to keep us baffled for a long time.

I'm a little disappointed that it had to be a simple explanation. I wanted something a bit more exotic, I reckon. Oh well, it is what it is...!

Coffee out on the patio this morning!