Ceres’ bright spots are mysterious in nature, but they might be made of ice and salt. And in a paper published today, scientists were surprised to find that the spots seem to be constantly changing. A telescope in Chile caught the spots getting brighter during the daytime, implying that whatever makes up the shiny region is vaporizing in the sun’s heat. The resulting plumes reflect more sunlight. The spots’ brightness also varies from day to day. The team that discovered the variations is hoping to confirm the findings with other instruments. Meanwhile, the mystery of Ceres’ bright spots only deepens.
