Mysterious Ceres may hold clues about our Solar System
By: Talia Siefert

CERES:

• Ceres is a dwarf planet.
• It is found in the asteroid belt.
• Astronomers recently discovered water on it.
• This was the first time water has been found in the asteroid belt.
• Could this give us information about our Solar System?

COULD THE WATER BE STORED AS ICE:

• Astronomers speculated that Ceres could have water stored as ice.
• They wanted to discover if this idea could be accurate.
• They turned to the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory for help.
• They discovered that water was coming off Ceres at a rate of six kilometers.
• This made them think that the water may actually be coming from ice.

IDEAS ABOUT CERES:

• Ceres really may not even be native to this part of the solar system.
• It probably originated somewhere out past the "snow line."
• It could have been moved around during a major migration in the Solar System.
• Though this icy mystery may very well just be an asteroid.
• Citations: https://www.newsela.com/