Scientists have raised doubts about whether the organic matter found on Ceres is indigenous to the dwarf planet.

On the surface of the dwarf planet located between Mars and Jupiter, traces of complex hydrocarbon compounds have been detected, which are considered the "building blocks of life." It is essential to understand their origin. There are two possibilities: either the molecules were brought there by falling asteroids, or they formed on Ceres itself. Previously, one team of scientists presented compelling arguments in favor of the "self-production" of these complex substances within the depths of this small world, but now other researchers are equally assertive in claiming that this idea is questionable.

2025-01-30 10:01:33https://naked-science.ru/article/astronomy/cerera-organika-asteroidy

A significant question regarding the small Ceres arose after data was received from NASA's Dawn spacecraft, which orbited this dwarf planet from 2015 to 2018 amidst countless asteroids in the Main Belt between Mars and Jupiter. The spacecraft descended to an altitude of just 385 kilometers and sent back tens of thousands of images. At the same time, specialized instruments "read" the chemical composition of the surface based on how it reflects light.

It turned out that this world, which is three and a half times smaller than the Moon (946 kilometers), somehow retains substances akin to fatty acids or, for instance, acetylene — the so-called aliphatic hydrocarbons. They were initially detected in the 52-kilometer crater Ernutet, and later strongly suspected in about a dozen other locations. Interestingly, in almost all cases, these are also craters. Now the task is to figure out where such molecules on Ceres come from.

Initially, it was assumed that their discovery specifically in craters implied a result of asteroid bombardment. Subsequently, some scientists dismissed this hypothesis. As recently reported by Naked Science, planetary scientists determined that the craters with organic material on Ceres are too ancient to have preserved such complex molecules on the surface: since the time of the impact of all these asteroids, cosmic radiation should have destroyed any complex compounds without a trace.

Thus, there arose a suspicion that organic materials are gradually "seeping" from the depths of Ceres: they are being brought to the surface during some internal processes, for instance, cryovolcanism. It should be noted that planetary scientists are quite confident about the existence of a global layer of water ice inside Ceres. Moreover, this ice may even contain some amount of very salty and thus non-freezing water.

However, recently researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (Germany) disproved the notion that Ceres is independently "producing" all these compounds. In a paper published in AGU Advances, they emphasized that none of the proposed locations with organic material on Ceres show any signs of cryovolcanic or any other activity: such activity would be indicated by features like vents, volcanic domes, or canyons, none of which have been found.

At the same time, the only observed cryovolcano on Ceres, Ahuna, is not included in the list of "deposits" of organic material — none was identified there. Therefore, researchers believe it is premature to abandon the hypothesis that Ceres is sprinkled with hydrocarbons from asteroids.

It is worth noting that if this hypothesis proves correct, it would automatically imply a considerable number of such organic-rich celestial bodies in the Main Belt. If more than a dozen have been found for just the tiny Ceres, it suggests that many small "trucks" carrying the "building blocks" of all life are circulating throughout the Solar System.