Nature Communications (Jan 2021)

Dwarf planet (1) Ceres surface bluing due to high porosity resulting from sublimation

  • Stefan E. Schröder,
  • Olivier Poch,
  • Marco Ferrari,
  • Simone De Angelis,
  • Robin Sultana,
  • Sandra M. Potin,
  • Pierre Beck,
  • Maria Cristina De Sanctis,
  • Bernard Schmitt

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20494-5
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 1
pp. 1 – 9

Abstract

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The origin of blue ejecta around the fresh craters of dwarf planet Ceres is unknown. Here, the authors show that the blue color results from high porosity of the surface, induced by sublimation of ice-phyllosilicate mixture produced by impacts.