EPSS Colloquium winter-2016

Dawn@Ceres, Rendezvous with an Astrobiological Target

With the Dawn spacecraft in orbit since March 2015, Ceres is de facto the best observed icy-rich body explored to date. Dawn has revealed an intriguing world full of contrasts, where old craters neighbor recent cryovolcanic activity and the darkest materials sit right next to some of the brightest features in the inner Solar system. This seminar will introduce the Dawn mission and the new picture of Ceres' evolution and current state that is emerging from the combination of geology, mineralogy, elemental, and gravity observations returned so far. The seminar will also draw parallels between Ceres and other large volatile-rich bodies and show how Dawn's discoveries are addressing longtime gaps in our understanding of ocean worlds.