In our solar system, strange things happen - things that do not happen on Earth, and are clearly alien and unfamiliar to us. Take dwarf planet Ceres, eg. This small spherical carrier Main asteroid belt located between Mars and Jupiter, apparently, had odd volcanoes in the past, which did not throw fiery lava on its surface, like our own terrestrial volcanoes, but instead erupted melted ice. cryovolcanism - inversely called ice volcanism - is a type of low-temperature volcanic activity, where molten water ice mixed with ammonia or salts essentially plays the same role as molten silicate rock, which is erupted from our own planet of more familiar fire and ferocious volcanoes. In February 2017, a group of planetary scientists reported that the recently discovered lonely ice volcano on Ceres, dubbed Ahuna Mons, there may have been long-disappeared, older, frozen relatives who went missing, mysteriously disappeared over millions of years.
NASA & # 39; s Spaceship Dawn discovered volcanic ice mountain Ahuna Mons back in 2015. dawn is a space probe that was launched by NASA back in 2007, and this mission is to observe the duet of most of the mass inhabitants Main asteroid belt - dwarf planet Ceres , and a smaller asteroid, Vesta.
Standing about 2.5 miles in height, Ahuna Mons clearly on Ceres. In addition dwarf planet is also near the melting point of our hot, fiery Sun than any other inhabitant of our solar system, where ice volcanoes were discovered. Other ice worlds in our family are the Suns that take cryovolcanoes are remote dwarf planet Pluto; Jupiter's cracked moon, Europe; Triton, the ice moon of the ice giant Neptune; Charon, Pluto's big moon; and Titan, a large and fascinating smog, embarrassed by hydrocarbons, the lunar world of the gas-bearing planet Saturn.
However, in February 2017, planetary scientists were able to demonstrate that, perhaps, ice volcanoes except Ahuna Mons on Ceres millions - or even billions - of years ago. But, Ceres & # 39; ancient cryovolcanoes may smooth over time, which becomes indistinguishable from dwarf planet surface.
"We believe that we have a very good case that there was a lot cryovolcanoes on Ceres but they were deformed, ”commented Dr. Michael Sory on February 2, 2017 Press Release of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). Dr. Sory Moon and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona at Tucson and lead author of the new article.
Ceres was discovered on January 1, 1801 by Gizeppi Piazzi in Palermo, Italy, and was originally designated a major planet. Now considered dwarf planet , Ceres received its most recent classification in 2006, kindly provided International Astronomical Union (IAU) , due to an unusually large size. Dwarf planets these are worlds that are smaller than a large planet, but larger than asteroids. Although Vesta is the second largest Main asteroid belt it is still small enough that it is not formed by its own gravity into the sphere and retains its design as an asteroid.
However, the more Ceres was pulled by his own gravity into a ball. Ceres It is a differentiated small world and is believed to contain both the core of the rock and the mantle of ice. It has even been suggested that Ceres may be subject to an underground ocean of liquid water, hidden under its surface. Surface Ceres It is considered to consist of a combination of various hydrated minerals, such as clay and carbonates, which are mixed with water ice. In January 2014, water vapor emissions were observed from several places on Ceres & # 39; surface. This surprised many planetary scientists, since the objects inhabiting Main asteroid belt do not usually produce water vapor. The release of water vapor, as a rule, is characteristic of icy dusty comets, which are small inhabitants of our external system of the Solar system, far from our Sun, which is clothed in eternal twilight. Opening water vapor on Ceres reinforces the theory that icy little worlds such as wandering comets may Main asteroid belt from their remote, frozen domain in the outer borders of our solar system. This migration of frozen comets to warmer and well-lit Main asteroid belt when our 4.56-year-old solar system was still in the making.
dawn spacecraft received high resolution images Ceres since his arrival there on December 1, 2014. It was also the first spacecraft to visit. Vesta. Since astronomers get the best and best Ceres courtesy of Dawn, they expect to improve their understanding of the origin and evolution of this small world.
Ice Volcanoes
Instead of molten rock, ice volcanoes a substance called cryomagma --or ice-volcanic melt These substances are usually fluids that can create plumes, but they can also be in vapor form. After the eruption, it is believed that cryomagma condenses in solid form when exposed to cold ambient temperatures. Cryovolcanoes can potentially exist on icy moons and other bodies that have large amounts of water and are located in our outer regions of the solar system, far from our sun, where temperatures are frigid. Number of possible ice volcanoes were discovered on Pluto and Titan. Moreover, despite the fact that they do not know what volcanoes are creating, Enceladus, the moon of the planet Saturn and Neptune’s Triton have discovered glacial geysers.
Tidal friction is a possible source of energy for some bodies of the solar system. Tidal friction can both melt ices and produce cryovolcanoes. Some planetary scientists have also suggested that translucent deposits of frozen materials can cause a subsurface greenhouse effect, which can potentially accumulate the necessary amount of heat.
Signs of ancient warming Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) Quaoar also sirens sang. a song for scientists luring them to suggest that it is exposed cryvolcanism in past. Radioactive decay can provide the necessary energy for such activities. It's because cryovolcanoes can spew a mixture of water and ammonia, which melts at a cold temperature of -95 degrees Celsius. This melting can lead to a cold liquid that will flow from the volcano.
November 27, 2005 by NASA Cassini spacecraft photographed geysers at the south pole of Enceladus. In addition, there are also indirect signs cryovolcanic activities on competent other ice moons that inhabit our solar system, including Europe, Titan, Ganymede (Jupiter) and Miranda (Uranus). Cassini During his long and successful visit to the system, Saturn also discovered several features that could be ice volcanoes on titan especially Doom mons with addition Sotra Patera - A feature that is often considered the best evidence observed so far for volcanic topography at any point on the icy moon of our solar system. cryovolcanism is one of the possible sources for a large amount of methane found in Titan's foggy, orange, hydrocarbon-rich atmosphere.
Observations carried out in 2007 on Gemini Observatory, highlighting areas of ammonia hydrates and water crystals on Pluto’s large moon, Charon, also hinted at the presence of active ice volcanoes or cryogeysers. Later observations by NASA Spacecraft New Horizons - in the historical visit of the Pluto system and Kuiper Belt - I learned that Charon had a young surface. This observation reinforced the idea that Pluto itself has a duet of signs that were identified as potential cryovolcanoes because they are mountains showing indents. In 2015, two bright spots observed in a crater on the surface Ceres were displayed Spaceship Dawn This observation made scientists speculate about the possible ice volcano origin.
In September 2016, NASA scientists Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California and NASA Goddard in Greenbelt, Maryland, published their Akhuna-Kupol on Ceres. It was noted that Akhuna-Kupol is "a volcanic dome, unlike any other sources in the solar system." [The large] the mountain is probably volcanic in nature. like water, not silicates, ... the only known example cryovolcanism potentially formed from a salty mud mixture and formed in the geological recent past. "
Ahuna Mons is an important feature Ceres. It rises to about half the height of Mount Everest on Earth. Ahuna Mons several craters are also shown, which indicates that this is a young structure - only two hundred million years old; at the most - myopia of the eye in terms of geological time scales. Strong crater surfaces point to an old surface, while very few craters show youth.
However, the lonely, voluntary existence of this volcanic ice mountain puzzled planetary scientists since they first discovered it.
Ice Volcanoes Missing
“Imagine if there was only one volcano on Earth. Sori commented on February 2, 2017 Press release AGU.
Adding to the secret of this lonely volcanic glacial mountain is its clearly defined features and steep dimensions, which are usually signs of youth on geological time scales, continued Dr. Sory. This observation suggests two different possibilities: Ahuna Mons Be that as it may, the mysteriously solitary feature of the surface, which was formed relatively recently in an inactive small world. Or alternatively this weird cryovolcanism is either lonely or unusual, as it seems at first glance, and in fact there is a certain process Ceres who destroyed his ancestors - leaving the young Ahuna Mons as single ice volcano to tell the story of a story of this kind on dwarf planet.
Because Ceres It does not have an atmosphere, the processes that wear volcanoes on Earth, such as rain, wind and ice, cannot occur in this small world. Dr. Sory and his team propose that another process, called viscous relaxation , is the true culprit of the tragic existence of a lonely ice mountain, Ahuna Mons.
Whirling relaxation it is a term used to describe the idea that almost any solid body will flow, provided that it is given enough time. It was similar to how cold copper copper seems solid, but if it is given a sufficiently long period of time, the block will be completely flattened until there is no sign left from the block structure that has disappeared.
On our own planet, viscous relaxation this is a process that causes glaciers to flow, Dr. Sori explained on February 2, 2017 Press release AGU. However, this process does not affect the volcanoes on our planet, because they are built of stone. However Ceres volcanoes contain ice and this ice makes viscous relaxation possible. On Ceres , viscous relaxation can lead to ice volcanoes smooth out - just like a block of cold, hard honey. After millions of years, this process will make it difficult to determine the former ice mountains. Moreover, since Ceres located in the inner solar system, relatively close to our sun lights, the process itself may become more pronounced.
To test the idea that viscous relaxation was the culprit for the missing ice volcanoes making them smooth out Ceres , Dr. Sori and his team created a model using actual dimensions Ahuna Mons to predict how fast an ice mountain can be in progress. Scientists managed the model, assuming different water content in the material that makes up the mountain - from 100% water ice to 40% water ice.
Dr. Sory and his colleagues found that Ahuna Mons were to consist of more than 40% water ice that could be affected by the process viscous relaxation. In this particular composition, Dr. Sori believes that Ahuna Mons should be smoothed in size from 30 to 160 feet in a million years. This is enough to cryovolcanoes at to lose from hundreds of millions to billions of years. This indicates that there could be others. cryovolcanoes on Ceres , according to this study.
" Ahuna Mons is not more than 200 million years. Sori commented on February 2, 2017 AGU press release ,
In the future, Dr. Sori and his colleagues plan to try to identify flattened relics that may still linger. cryovolcanoes on a surface Ceres. The findings may help planetary scientists better understand the still elusive story of how dwarf planet was born
This new study helps planetary scientists increase their knowledge of what may happen to the planetary inhabitants of our own solar system, Dr. Kelsey Singer noted February 2, 2017 Press release AGU. Dr. Singer is a doctoral research student studying the ice worlds on Southwestern Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, and did not participate in this study.
Dr. Singer continued to comment: “It would be interesting to check out some of the other features that are potentially older domes on Ceres to see if they are consistent with the theory of how forms should evolve over time. in other worlds are different, I think it helps to expand our inventory of what is possible. "
