Discovered a mysterious pyramid-shaped mountain on a dwarf planet Ceres

Discovered in 1801, Ceres is the dwarf planet closest to the Sun. By 2012 NASA's Dawn spacecraft approached this dwarf planet to learn about the upper layer of its surface.

The mysterious pyramid-shaped mountain on the dwarf planet Ceres

Taken by the Dawn spacecraft , the latest images show a mountain shaped like a pyramid on the surface of the planet. Apart from this mountain shaped like a pyramid, a strange bright spot is said to be a collection of countless small bright spots on the floor of a crater - but their origins are still mysterious.

A close-up image of a strange mountain, captured by Dawn spacecraft from a height of 4400km

This mountain is said to be as high as 5km, equivalent to Mont Blanc in France and Italy, the highest mountain of the Apls range.

Another image shows a bright spot more clearly. A number of smaller bright spots can be seen scattered around the largest bright spot, estimating these bright spots covering a space of about 9km in diameter.

The hypotheses that these bright spots are the reflection of light on ice and salt on the surface of Ceres.

"It is fascinating to see these images," said Dr. Marc Rayman, Dawn's chief operating officer. A few months ago, when the spacecraft Dawn began observing Ceres from afar, we found only one bright spot. When we got closer, with a clearer image, we realized that there were two bright spots.

Several hypotheses are made about the mysterious bright spots on the dwarf planet's surface:

The first hypothesis is that the bright spots are a copper salt reflecting sunlight, this salt is made from salt water or by chemical reaction.

The second hypothesis is that these points are an ice , reflecting sunlight. Ceres is said to have many layers of ice under its surface. This ice may be exposed when a celestial body collides with Ceres, the fact that these bright spots are in a hollow, formed after a collision so this hypothesis seems to be the best.