How do you build a planet, let alone one capable of sustaining and evolving life? The clues to the “recipe” can perhaps be found in the leftovers scattered around our solar system. Things like ...

The dwarf planet Ceres, tucked away in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, has long been considered a quiet, frozen remnant of the early solar system. With its airless surface, icy shell, and ...

Surface of dwarf planet Ceres. The sites of organic material are shown as or in red boxes. The vast majority of sites are found near the Ernutet crater in the northern hemisphere. Organic molecules ...

New research based on data from NASA’s Dawn mission suggests the dwarf planet Ceres may have once possessed a deep, long-lasting energy source capable of sustaining habitable conditions in its ancient ...

The dwarf planet is a bizarre, cryovolcanic world. However, the organic deposits discovered on its surface so far are unlikely to originate from its interior. The organic material found in a few areas ...