Dawn space probe discovers water ice in Ceres’ polar region

The American Dawn space probe has been orbiting the asteroid Ceres between Mars and Jupiter since March 2015. Thanks to the two identical onboard cameras from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS), the Framing Cameras, the dwarf planet has been almost completely mapped. In a current study, a team headed by scientists from the MPS reports on Ceres’ most northerly regions, where the Göttingen cameras have performed a very special feat: they have succeeded in taking photos of water ice deposits in places ruled by almost eternal darkness.