Is that a ‘pingo’ mountain on dwarf planet Ceres?

The last time we wrote about “pingos” they were popping open in Siberia (see gallery below). Then we saw the latest photo from the Dawn spacecraft flying around the dwarf planet Ceres and thought: Pingo!

Here’s that sharper closer image in zoomable format:

This is what NASA said about it:

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft spotted this tall, conical mountain on Ceres from a distance of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). The mountain, located in the southern hemisphere, stands 4 miles (6 kilometers) high. Its perimeter is sharply defined, with almost no accumulated debris at the base of the brightly streaked slope. (Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA)

We wrote about this mounting in these two stories:

• Now there’s a 3-mile-high ‘pyramid-shaped mountain’ on Ceres
• ‘Pyramid-shaped mountain': How NASA broke the Internet with one phrase

So, we had some experience with NASA’s work on this strange mountain that has cropped up in the middle of no-where … well, just not as part of a mountain range or anything else the space agency can point to as a related cause. Instead, it sits all cozy right next to a giant crater. Odd.

But then we saw the above photo with the white streaks down its side and slowly got our mind to remember the bright spots (in gallery below) that NASA is also wondering about. The bright spots are sun reflection probably off something like salt, though many still think it’s ice.

We also remember that Cere’s is suspected of having water deep under its surface … and, being science fiction lovers, we thought what if the bright spots are what’s left over from a pingo? And that pyramid mountain is an “active” Pingo? (We emailed NASA and they say they’re hunting for someone who will take the time to tell us that we’re stupid and should stop smoking weed, which is unfair since they are just assuming we do because we live in a legal weed state.)

So, we theorize. Here’s what a pingo is:

Here’s what “active” pingos look like:

Pingos near Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, Canada

Here’s what a popped pingo looks like (in theory):

We will stop the presses as soon as NASA (or Hollywood) calls. Meanwhile, here’s more theorizing about odd features of the dwarf planet Ceres (with NASA response).

And now the full gallery of all the weird shit on Ceres.

Jake Ellison can be reached at 206-448-8334 or jakeellison@seattlepi.com. Follow Jake on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Jake_News. Also, swing by and *LIKE* his page on Facebook.
If Google Plus is your thing, check out our science coverage here.

 

from The Big Science Blog http://ift.tt/1EWM5gp

The last time we wrote about “pingos” they were popping open in Siberia (see gallery below). Then we saw the latest photo from the Dawn spacecraft flying around the dwarf planet Ceres and thought: Pingo!

Here’s that sharper closer image in zoomable format:

This is what NASA said about it:

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft spotted this tall, conical mountain on Ceres from a distance of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). The mountain, located in the southern hemisphere, stands 4 miles (6 kilometers) high. Its perimeter is sharply defined, with almost no accumulated debris at the base of the brightly streaked slope. (Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA)

We wrote about this mounting in these two stories:

• Now there’s a 3-mile-high ‘pyramid-shaped mountain’ on Ceres
• ‘Pyramid-shaped mountain': How NASA broke the Internet with one phrase

So, we had some experience with NASA’s work on this strange mountain that has cropped up in the middle of no-where … well, just not as part of a mountain range or anything else the space agency can point to as a related cause. Instead, it sits all cozy right next to a giant crater. Odd.

But then we saw the above photo with the white streaks down its side and slowly got our mind to remember the bright spots (in gallery below) that NASA is also wondering about. The bright spots are sun reflection probably off something like salt, though many still think it’s ice.

We also remember that Cere’s is suspected of having water deep under its surface … and, being science fiction lovers, we thought what if the bright spots are what’s left over from a pingo? And that pyramid mountain is an “active” Pingo? (We emailed NASA and they say they’re hunting for someone who will take the time to tell us that we’re stupid and should stop smoking weed, which is unfair since they are just assuming we do because we live in a legal weed state.)

So, we theorize. Here’s what a pingo is:

Here’s what “active” pingos look like:

Pingos near Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, Canada

Here’s what a popped pingo looks like (in theory):

We will stop the presses as soon as NASA (or Hollywood) calls. Meanwhile, here’s more theorizing about odd features of the dwarf planet Ceres (with NASA response).

And now the full gallery of all the weird shit on Ceres.

Jake Ellison can be reached at 206-448-8334 or jakeellison@seattlepi.com. Follow Jake on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Jake_News. Also, swing by and *LIKE* his page on Facebook.
If Google Plus is your thing, check out our science coverage here.

 

from The Big Science Blog http://ift.tt/1EWM5gp