Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, has long been cast as a frozen relic of the early solar system — quiet, airless, and lifeless. But new research suggests that billions of years ago, this dwarf planet may have harbored the right ingredients to support simple microbial life.
That's according to a new study using data from NASA's turned out to be salt deposits left by briny liquid that once seeped upward. Organic molecules, discovered in Ceres' soil, suggest the ingredients for life were also present. Until now, though, one piece was missing: a source of energy to sustain life.
A world gone cold
statement. "So it could have big implications if we could determine whether Ceres' ocean had an influx of hydrothermal fluid in the past."
An illustration of the interior of dwarf planet Ceres, showing how water and gases can flow from its rocky core to a reservoir of salty water. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)Even if life never took hold on Ceres, the discovery could help broaden the range of environments that could potentially be habitable. Unlike many ocean worlds orbiting giant planets, Ceres isn't powered by tidal heating, making it a simpler and more revealing case study of how small, icy bodies evolve. Because so many objects in the solar system are similar in size, researchers suggest they could have represented a common type of habitable environment in the solar system's early days.
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— published on Aug. 20 in the journal Science Advances.