Spaceflight Insider

News Archive / Tagged: dwarf planets

  • Scientists propose Ceres sample return mission

    Laurel KornfeldSeptember 14th, 2022

    Planetary scientists have recommended NASA send a sample return mission to Ceres, the only dwarf planet located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

  • Remnants of ancient subsurface ocean observed on Ceres

    Laurel KornfeldOctober 5th, 2020

    The bright spots in Ceres’s Occator Crater, which mystified scientists when first observed by the Dawn spacecraft in 2015, indicate the dwarf planet may harbor remnants of what was once a global subsurface ocean.

  • Pluto’s subsurface ocean may date back to planet’s formation

    Laurel KornfeldJune 29th, 2020

    Scientists who recently studied the detailed images of Pluto’s surface returned by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft in July 2015 have found evidence that the dwarf planet’s subsurface ocean may have been around since Pluto’s formation over four billion years ago.

  • New study rejects IAU rationale for demoting Pluto

    Laurel KornfeldSeptember 13th, 2018

    Is Pluto a planet? A new study questions the controversial decision that was handed down by the International Astronomical Union.