Ceres Power Explores Solid Electrolyte Innovations for Hydrogen Hybrid Battery Systems All 5 Releases Lisa Mantarro Moore jokes about ordering picture perfect weather and expecting it to arrive for this weekend’s Ceres Street Faire While weather is something out of anyone’s control it does appear that the wishes of the chairwoman of this year’s Ceres Street Faire Committee may come true with a mixture of sun and clouds and pleasant temperatures in the 70’s Moore has seen various events in the past ruined by cold and wet weather for the first weekend in May but regardless of what happens the free event goes on “rain or shine” event The Faire in downtown Ceres will include the staple activities Faire goers have come to expect: street vendors selling their goods food booth vendors operated by non-profit Ceres groups and fun activities for kids to do in Whitmore Park The arts and crafts vendors will also appreciate nice weather “We are totally filled on our booth spaces We’ve had an overwhelming amount of vendors reaching back out to us and new vendors to come in so we’re pretty excited about that.” Corn-hole games will be set up on Fourth Street as a new addition on Saturday coinciding with a classic car and pickup show on Fourth Street between Magnolia and North streets Over 100 cars are expected this year for the Saturday exhibition Car owners can sign up for entries online at ceresstreetfaire.org Pre-registration is $25 while registration that Saturday is $35 with a Low Rider Car Show with awards at 2 p.m instead of the traditional Sunday closing time of 4 p.m A full army of other service clubs and youth groups will also be selling food items along Third Street on both days The Ceres Lions Club will be among the food vendors to barbecue their ever popular beef tri-tip sandwiches The entertainment line-up – the schedule appears on page A7 – includes local karate and dance groups as well as music bands Lavon & the Train Wreck will close out Saturday’s music acts while Sunday’s closing act will be Ceres’ own country singer Greg Scudder & Honky-Tonk Truth Ceres cheerleaders will take the stage at various times The Ceres Street Faire Committee takes pride in making the Ceres Street Faire a free and family friendly experience Whitmore Park will be filled with fun things for the children during the annual Ceres Street Faire this weekend A petting zoo and B&B Pony Rides for the little ones will be offered at the southern end of the park A variety of fun activities and games will be available including: • A 15-foot-high inflatable bounce house for children which is a great way for parents to let their children get all their wiggles out • Four carnival rides/attractions sponsored by Teaco Amusements • A giant slide presented by Teaco Amusements of Patterson Adults and kids are welcome to climb up this giant fiberglas slide and slide down the 100 feet on a sack for smiles and laughs – and then do it again • A Ferris Wheel brought to Ceres by Teaco Slides The family will want to take in the variety of local entertainment acts offered on the Whitmore Park slab and from the new Whitmore Park gazebo which was completed in time for this weekend’s affair The Ceres Street Faire is known for the opportunity to shop for unusual products for people of all ages and this year there will be a healthy number of vendors lining both Magnolia There will be plenty of non-profit organizations at the Street Faire selling lots of yummy food including loaded baked potatoes The Ceres Street Faire has been a Ceres tradition since 1988 when the Ceres Lions Club and Ceres Chamber of Commerce joined forces to replace the Ceres Peach Harvest Festival The venue changed from Smyrna Park to downtown Ceres downtown was spruced up during last Saturday’s “Love Ceres” event A smaller-than-expected group of civic minded volunteers turned out for Saturday’s “Love Ceres” to do their part to clean up town or doing acts of love for others The event was threatened by rain that made everything wet earlier in the day but volunteers like Keara Bell and her children Raiel and Kade Bell came out to pick up trash in one of Ceres’ parks “I usually do ‘Love Modesto’ but I decided to do ‘Love Ceres’ because I live here,” said Keara Bell “I used to live in Turlock when I first started.” youth pastors at Grace Community Christian Church and their three children turned were put to work designing and writing cards of thanks for local military veterans at a picnic table in Whitmore Park  “Never done this before – we didn’t know what to expect,” said Mike who was coloring an American flag on a cover of a card he was designing About 40 cards were created to give to Blue Star Moms for current military service personnel and veterans The event began with a kickoff gathering in Whitmore Park with members of the Ceres Lions Club providing 250 breakfast burritos to fuel the volunteers for work details event organizers Brandy and Keith Meyer welcomed the workers and introduced local officials who were in attendance “This is about love,” said Mayor Javier Lopez who thanked the “Love Ceres” committee I think it’s really important that we give back to our community – not just today but every day.” Posing with workers was “L.C.” (for “Love Ceres”) the large heart-shaped mascot worn by Dominic Martinez Besides the greeters and photographers capturing images of the work being done at the various sites volunteers engaged in a number of work projects They included picking up trash in downtown Ceres and in Strawberry Persephone and Guillermo Ochoa parks; washing ambulances and police vehicles at the downtown Ceres fire station; and removing old mulch from the flowerbed at the Ceres Police headquarters on Third Street and replacing it with fresh bark donated by California Landscape Supply in Ceres Members of the Persephone Guild drove to the homes of about 13 Ceres residents – some of them veterans – to replace worn American flags with new ones Ceres librarian Rebecca Brown ran a book focused childcare program in the library for families of small children Because the early morning rain made grass wet some scheduled yard work for seniors and shut-ins had to be postponed to a later date city employee Toni Cordell was able to led work details in the yards of some Ceres seniors “We did have a lot of people text us this week saying it’s going to rain – we’re not sure we’re going to make it,’” Brandy Meyer told the crowd “So unfortunately we lose a few people but that’s okay You guys are here and I want to thank you for showing up on this cold rainy morning.” about 175 volunteers in total participated in “Love Ceres” this year including those who drove around on April 18 for the Classic Car Cruise Up spouses and friends paid visits to folks dealing with illnesses or a tragedy and offered flowers and encouragement The event included tours of the downtown Ceres fire station a returning participant of “Love Ceres,” spent time on Fourth Street with a plastic garbage bag and a trash picker to remove litter in time for the Ceres Street Faire this weekend “The older I get the more I care about this community,” said Baker “I do love Ceres and love living here and being a part of everything and so it feels good to be out here.” Baker is attending Stanislaus State University and working toward his teaching credential He is employed as a paraprofessional for Ceres schools helping in PE and music as well as coaching at Ceres High School Baker said he wants to make Ceres his home for life Meyer said she left Saturday “feeling so blessed that our community came together.” Owners of Cold Stone Creamery in Ceres offered free ice creams for Love Ceres volunteers after the morning work detail coffee pledged to donate $1 for every drink sold at the Ceres location for next year’s event Ten boxes of donuts were donated by Congressman Adam Gray coffee by Starbucks and a hot dog lunch with chips and drinks by the Ceres Rotary Club Other sponsors of the event included Embroidery Plus which printed the volunteers’ T-shirts; Sign Depot which print signs; Dalton Durossette who placed the signs around town; Bertolotti Disposal which provided bins for garbage and yard clippings; Dutch Bros and Home Depot who sent employees to help out at the event; and citizen Gene Yeakley who donated funds for water and orange juice We use cookies to improve your experience Please read our Privacy Policy or click Accept.× Please read our Privacy Policy or click Accept Topics: College of Architecture and Planning, Miller College of Business, Muncie, Speakers, Student Activities Ball State University’s Center for Energy Research/Education/Service (CERES) will host the 2025 CERES Forum a lecture series focused on "Innovation for Sustainable Communities." The forum will feature nationally recognized experts who bring unique perspectives on sustainability The events—free and open to the public—will take place at 1 p.m Hosted by CERES, the series is made possible through the generous support of the Bracken Environmental Fund and is sponsored by the Estopinal College of Architecture and Planning (ECAP) and the Miller College of Business “The CERES Forum highlights the critical importance of innovation and collaboration in addressing sustainability challenges,” said David Ferguson “By bringing together leading voices in the field CERES continues to serve as a vital resource for advancing knowledge and fostering meaningful solutions for our communities and beyond.” The Center for Energy Research/Education/Service (CERES) at Ball State is an interdisciplinary unit dedicated to addressing energy and resource use Its mission includes investigating contemporary energy issues For more information, visit the CERES website, email ceres@bsu.edu Things you buy through our links may earn Vox Media a commission The EMP of it all is important, because the first thing people notice about this pizzeria is its prices: $40 for a cheese pie (Lucali charges $32) Ceres does sell slices: $5 for a San Marzano tomato slice $6 for regular cheese (made with both plain mozz and longer-aged scamorza) Whether someone is waiting for a single slice or a whole pizza I became the 23rd person to queue up outside the door with another dozen or so waiting inside the shop The demographics leaned mid-20s and male-heavy with lots of representation from the gorpcore set It was 20 minutes before my friends and I were able to enter the wood-paneled pizzeria despite the steel dining counter and paper plates mid-century rattan chairs aligned the room with its premium prices everything stopped: For 15 minutes — an eternity for anyone waiting on line to eat pizza — there were no sales at all who were taking turns as cashier and server Instead of flouring the dough by the fistful while tomato sauce is spread in a spiral motion from the center they use an infrared thermometer to constantly keep an eye on the oven’s temperature though I could hear murmurs of complaints (“This was your idea,” someone said pointedly upon seeing the line) Once the first new round of cheese pies emerged from the oven Geldmacher asked how long I’d been waiting The move that I saw most people employ was to order some individual slices as a sort of appetizer to eat while they waited for their whole pies to be delivered ordering a cheese pie along with three slices: mushroom I eyed the reheated slices with some suspicion but they were perfectly revived in the oven with dark spots on the underside and surface of the pizza The sourdough recipe was apparent once I flayed open the toasted crust to expose a long webby structure that was still moist as well as a cushion of tiny bubbles set in between the bottom of the pizza and sauce layer The tomato pizza was concentrated and tangy and the piped crème fraîche) slice was a worthy Flammkuchen knockoff It wasn’t too long before Geldmacher brought over the whole pizza The top was extra cheesy for such a thin crust It was brightened up by a flash of herbal flavor from a peppery finish of olive oil here is the $40 question: Is this pizza worth the money mostly because you can see exactly where that money goes: precision Watching Serebnick shape the dough for 90 seconds and literally stop business to make his pizza correctly demonstrates a level of commitment while also acting as insurance against a bad pie because they will catch the mistakes before their customers do The cost here is the reality of specialized labor and I could sense the eyes of onlookers as my friends and I devoured the eight-slice pie We became onlookers ourselves when the people next to us opened a box containing the ’nduja pizza dotted with cold white blobs of stracciatella there were fewer people waiting outside than earlier but I can’t say for sure whether they got served before lunch was supposed to end at 4 p.m the pizzeria posted that it’d sold out for the day an hour before it was scheduled to close Already a subscriber? Sign in By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us Images of the Consus Crater with the bright yellow ammonium containing material marked yBM or did it migrate there from the outer solar system Scientists have used data from a long-retired NASA Dawn spacecraft to solve the mystery surrounding the origins of the strange dwarf planet Ceres This has led some scientists to speculate that the 596-mile (960-kilometer) wide dwarf planet may have originated at the outer edge of the solar system and may have migrated inwards to its current home.  it gives us access to processes that took place in the interior of Ceres over many billions of years - and is thus a kind of window into the dwarf planet's past." Related: Dwarf planet Ceres could be a great place to hunt for alien life. Here's why Ceres is a cryovolcanic body with volcanoes that spew not scorching hot lava but frigid icy sludge This icy volcanism has driven the evolution of the dwarf planet over the course of billions of years and could still be occurring today one of Ceres' smaller impact craters located on the dwarf planet's southern hemisphere revealed remnants of a brine that has risen to the dwarf planet's surface from its interior specifically a liquid layer between the mantle and crust While most of the deposits found in Ceres' scattered impact craters show light-colored the material in isolated spots of the Conus Crater is more yellowish in hue This material appears to be rich in ammonium a type of ammonia with an extra hydrogen ion.  Scientists had previously figured the process needed to create ammonium wouldn't have worked as close to the sun as the main asteroid belt because it evaporates too quickly These new findings are the first to connect ammonium with salty brine from Ceres’ interior supporting the idea that Ceres is an asteroid belt native.  the team assumed the building blocks of ammonium were part of the material that originally formed Ceres Because it wouldn't have combined with the other materials in the dwarf planet's mantle a thick layer of ammonium would have accumulated in the brine between the mantle and the dwarf planet's surface or crust This blanket of ammonium would stretch through the entirety of Ceres Over billions of years, Ceres's cryovolcanoes would have brought this brine and its ammonium content to the crust where it would have seeped into layered crystalline structures called phyllosilicates —  Dwarf Planet Ceres Has Way More Organic Molecules Than Originally Suspected  — Astronomers spy new class of dark, water-rich asteroids like dwarf planet Ceres  —  Could the Dwarf Planet Ceres Support Life? conspicuous patches of the yellowish-bright material investigated by the team are found in deep craters of Ceres This suggests concentrations of ammonium are greater deeper in the core of the dwarf planet The speckles of this yellowish ammonium-rich material to the east of the Consus Crater are thought by the researchers to have been exposed by an asteroid collision around 280 million years ago.  The team's research is published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com. Robert LeaSocial Links NavigationSenior WriterRobert Lea is a science journalist in the U.K whose articles have been published in Physics World He also writes about science communication for Elsevier and the European Journal of Physics Rob holds a bachelor of science degree in physics and astronomy from the U.K.’s Open University DARPA wants a spacecraft to search for water on the moon Evidence of controversial Planet 9 uncovered in sky surveys taken 23 years apart James Webb Space Telescope finds coldest exoplanet ever seen Eos The dwarf planet Ceres is the largest object in our solar system’s asteroid belt, and it may have remnants of a subsurface ocean Get the most fascinating science news stories of the week in your inbox every Friday which consist of carbon atoms arranged in long chains were most likely produced by chemical processes on Ceres a lively debate grew over whether these organics had indeed formed on the dwarf planet or were delivered by organic-rich asteroids that crashed into its surface Now, Sarkar et al. present a new analysis that supports an external asteroid origin for Ceres’s complex organic compounds The researchers scanned Ceres’s surface in search of any organic compound hot spots that earlier studies may have missed. First, they applied a machine learning approach known as a deep neural network to images captured by Dawn’s Framing Camera visible-wavelength signatures of potential organic-rich sites they further analyzed those sites using data from Dawn’s Visual and Infrared Spectrometer specifically looking for infrared light at 3.4 micrometers—a telltale sign of the chain-like compounds they sought such as fracture systems or volcanic structures that might indicate the materials came from Ceres’s interior the new data suggest that the organic compounds were more likely deposited by organic-rich asteroids that crashed into Ceres traveling slowly enough that at least some of the organics remained intact after impact The researchers note, however, that the debate may not yet be resolved; it is still possible that organic compounds are indeed produced on Ceres but escape current detection capabilities. (AGU Advances, https://doi.org/10.1029/2024AV001362 Organic molecules are among the necessary inventory of life-friendly worlds hydrogen and – in smaller quantities – other elements form the basic building blocks of all life researchers have found such molecules at great distances from the Sun: on trans-Neptunian objects These bodies are thought to be largely unaltered remnants from the early days of the Solar System The building blocks of life may therefore have been part of their “basic configuration” from the very beginning and possibly reached the inner Solar System only later the researchers looked for previously unknown deposits of organic material on dwarf planet Ceres With its location in the middle of the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter the body is neither clearly native to the inner nor the outer Solar System this location could even be its birthplace Scientists are therefore interested in the origin of Ceres’s organic components Did they originate locally in the asteroid belt Evidence of deposits of organic material was already found during the early stages of the Dawn mission The Dawn spacecraft reached Ceres in March 2015 and accompanied it for about three and a half years the scientific camera system and the spectrometer on board scanned the entire surface of the dwarf planet Potential patches of organic material can be detected from the camera data: the brightness of the light reflected from these areas increases noticeably with increasing wavelength The spectrometer splits the light into many more wavelengths than the camera and can therefore prove or disprove the presence of organics remote data is not sufficient to identify individual types of molecules beyond doubt it is certain that the discovered deposits consist of organic compounds that have a chain-like structure Researchers refer to such molecules as aliphatic hydrocarbons Geologic context of the organic-rich sites near and in Ernutet (a): High Altitude Mapping Orbit color mosaic (R-965 nm; G-749 nm; B-438 nm) of the vast Ernutet area The red dots mark locations of steep red-sloped pixels and the yellow dots indicate locations of moderate red-sloped pixels identified by the DNN The red boxes mark those locations where organic-rich material is identified by using VIR data Organics appear to be spatially concentrated in two locations on the Ernutet’s rim (annotated as “concentration”) The box with the blue six-pointed star is a new spot identified in this study c) are Low Altitude Mapping Orbit (LAMO) clear filter mosaics of the two areas outlined by white boxes in panels (a–c): Small craters exposing organic-rich material (white arrows) appear as bright spots and streaks in the LAMO clear filter mosaic The blue arrow in panel c marks the location of organic-rich material exposed by the ∼8 km crater (see text) The authors of the current study have now used artificial intelligence to comb the entire surface of the dwarf planet for traces of aliphatic organic molecules “Sites of such organic molecules are actually rare on Ceres and devoid of any cryovolcanic signatures” says first author Ranjan Sarkar from the MPS The vast majority of deposits can be found along the edge or near the large Ernutet crater in the northern hemisphere of the dwarf planet Only three are located at a greater distance from it A closer look at the geological structures at the locations of the organic material allows further conclusions “At none of the deposits do we find evidence of current or past volcanic or tectonic activity: no trenches there are no deep impact craters nearby,” says Martin Hoffmann from MPS Ceres had turned out to be an extraordinary which in some places has been seeping to the surface until recently the first assumption is that Ceres’ unique cryovolcanism has transported the organic material from the interior of the body to the surface,” says Andreas Nathues from MPS And where organic compounds have been reliably detected there is no evidence of deep or surface activity The researchers therefore argue that the impact of one or more asteroids from the outer asteroid belt introduced the organic material Computer simulations show that these bodies are among the ones that most frequently collided with Ceres Since the not-too-distant neighbors do not pick up much speed Organic compounds can survive these temperatures Dawn can’t detect all types of organic compounds,” Andreas Nathues points out It is quite likely that building blocks of life were also formed in Ceres’ underground ocean and perhaps even reached the surface – or are still doing so the organic deposits that have been reliably detected with Dawn so far likely do not originate Ceres itself,” he explains Nathues continues by saying that a future lander mission would be needed to detect organic material from the interior of Ceres NASA’s Dawn mission studied two bodies in the asteroid belt up close: the protoplanet Vesta from 2011 to 2012 and the dwarf planet Ceres from 2015 to 2018 and operated during the mission under the leadership of MPS The VIR spectrometer was provided by the Italian Space Agency ASI Ceres: Organic-Rich Sites of Exogenic Origin? ex-NASA Space Station Payload manager/space biologist Devon Island and Everest Base Camp veteran To use all available functions on this website JavaScript must be enabled in your browser This view of the dwarf planet Ceres shows the mountain and likely ice volcano Ahuna Mons on the right edge and the bright spots of the Occator crater in the bottom left Research suggests that multiple ice volcanoes once dotted Ceres' surface The building blocks of life could have been delivered to Ceres by one or more space rocks from the outer asteroid belt Using AI to comb through data gathered by NASA's Dawn spacecraft scientists have conducted a detailed scan of the dwarf planet Ceres to map regions rich in organic molecules to determine whether these "building blocks of life" originated from within the planet or were delivered by external sources At the time, scientists identified potential patches of organic material by observing that the amount of light reflected from certain areas on Ceres' surface was higher in longer wavelengths especially those with complex molecules like hydrocarbons often reflect more light from longer wavelengths due to their molecular structure which influences how they absorb and scatter light researchers believed that the deposits they identified could contain organic compounds with a chain-like structure their remote data couldn't pinpoint the exact types of molecules with any certainty scientists have reanalyzed the entire surface of the dwarf planet Ceres While previous studies identified organic compounds in specific regions AI allowed for a systematic examination of the Dawn mission's full dataset uncovering patterns that had previously been overlooked By cross-referencing spectral data with geological features, AI helped the team confirm that organic materials were in fact not associated with sites of cryovolcanic activity "Sites of such organic molecules are actually rare on Ceres and devoid of any cryovolcanic signatures," commented one of the study's scientists These findings help rule out the possibility that the organic molecules originated from Ceres' interior where organic compounds were reliably detected there were no signs of deep or surface activity "At none of the deposits do we find evidence of current or past volcanic or tectonic activity: no trenches there are no deep impact craters nearby," said Martin Hoffmann The vast majority of deposits were located along Ceres' large Ernutet crater in its northern hemisphere Dawn can't detect all types of organic compounds," said Nathues the organic deposits that have been reliably detected with Dawn so far likely do not originate [from] Ceres itself."  —  Dwarf planet Ceres could be rich in organics, defunct spacecraft data reveals  — Mystery of dwarf planet Ceres' origin may finally be solved, thanks to retired NASA spacecraft  — This crater on dwarf planet Ceres that may hold another icy volcano, scientists say These simulations show that such asteroids frequently collide with Ceres but because they originate from the same general region allowing organic compounds to survive without being destroyed as it suggests that organic molecules could have been present on asteroids and comets in the outer solar system early in its formation and may have only reached the inner solar system much later potentially playing a key role in the development of life here on Earth Victoria CorlessContributing WriterA chemist turned science writer in organic synthesis at the University of Toronto and realized lab work was not something she wanted to do for the rest of her days. After dabbling in science writing and a brief stint as a medical writer Victoria joined Wiley’s Advanced Science News where she works as an editor and writer she freelances for various outlets including Research2Reality and Chemistry World James Webb Space Telescope captures thousands of galaxies in a cosmic 'feast' (image) Astronomers gaze into 'dark nebula' 60 times the size of the solar system (video) What would it be like living on Tatooine from 'Star Wars' This exoplanet orbiting twin suns could tell us State Assemblyman Juan Alanis said that he is proud of the way that organizations government agencies and legislators come together in Stanislaus and Merced counties to get things done to help those in their communities he was specifically referencing the launch of La Familia Central Valley’s Mobile Mental Health program “I like to make sure that we always have hope and continue to have hope The Mobile Mental Health Access Point for Rural Californians Project is a pilot mobile van health program serving the rural and often overlooked areas of Stanislaus and Merced counties expanding behavioral healthcare access to at least 250 unique individuals Both Stanislaus and Merced are HRSA-designated Health Professional Shortage Areas for mental healthcare and have per capita rates of mental health providers ranging from 50-80% below California’s average Alanis and Senator Alex Padilla were each able to secure over $350,000 in state and federal funding to get the project up and running The mobile mental health van will travel to rural areas of Stanislaus and Merced counties and provide the following services: screenings and treatment on anxiety depression and substance abuse; case management services to help residents understand the social services available to them; develop partnerships with cities and other community organizations to build trust within rural communities; and launch a public health marketing campaign The expansion of mental health services first began when Legacy Health Endowment funded the opening of the First Behavioral Health Urgent Care Center which merged with La Familia Central Valley “We went from myself and two clinicians to a few months later to a clinical supervisor and now we have over 35 employees here in Turlock,” said Manuel Jimenez “And I think that’s really a blessing for the community said that with the launch of the mobile services they will be “bringing lifesaving mental health services directly to those who aren’t the most in need.” or there’s sometimes other barriers that prevent them from accessing mental health or social services “So us bringing the services to them helps us assess what they need and point them in the direction that they need to go to get the help Sometimes they just don’t have the access in those rural areas Us being there and going to them and providing that to them is something that eliminates that barrier,” said Murillo There is a monthly calendar of where the mobile mental health van will be the Dia del Nino celebration at the Grayson Community Center For more information on where the van will be ABOUT THE EVENTLawmaker Educationand Advocacy Days Join leading companies and investors for LEAD on a Clean Economy to call on federal policymakers to maximize investments in America that strengthens U.S LEAD comes amid a clean energy boom that is driving billions of dollars in new investments and creating thousands of new jobs in local communities across the U.S This is your chance to make the business case with congressional offices and the Trump administration to keep building the strong policy environment we need to capitalize on the momentum toward an abundant clean energy future How—And Why—The Private Sector Supports Federal Clean Energy Tax Credits "If lawmakers are going to consider repealing them its members should first be fully aware of the vast benefits they are delivering: the investments and jobs they are bringing to Congressional districts across the country their effect on keeping power reliable and affordable Business leaders - so keenly aware of economic realities and the impacts of rising prices - are ideally suited to make that case." - said Ceres CEO Mindy Lubber in her recent Forbes article Lawmaker Education and Advocacy Days (LEAD) mobilizes leading U.S companies and investors to call on Congressional lawmakers on both sides of the aisle as well as White House and federal agency officials to advance ambitious policy action that strengthens U.S Alex Mandanas @ amandanas@ceres.org Helen Booth-Tobin @ booth-tobin@ceres.org  Metrics details Ceres is a key object in understanding the evolution of small bodies and is the only dwarf planet to have been orbited by a spacecraft Dawn data paint an inconclusive picture of Ceres’ internal structure composition and evolutionary pathway: crater morphology and gravity inversions suggest an ice-rich interior while a lack of extensive crater relaxation argues for low ice content Here we resolve this discrepancy by applying an ice rheology that includes effects of impurities on grain boundary sliding to finite element method simulations of Cerean craters We show that Ceres can maintain its cratered topography while also having an ice-rich crust Our simulations show that a crust with ~90% ice near the surface which gradually decreases to 0% at 117 km depth simultaneously matches the observed lack of crater relaxation observed crater morphology and gravity inversions This crustal structure results from a frozen ocean that became more impurity rich as it solidified top-down the Dawn data are consistent with an icy Ceres that evolved through freezing of an ancient These models suggested that craters on an icy Ceres would efficiently viscously relax away over geologic time Note that we use ‘differentiation’ in this Article to refer to separation of rock and water ice and does not necessarily include metal More details about the FEM model can be found in Methods where the top layer is icier than the bottom layer in which the ice content decreases linearly with depth The uniform crust in a would need to be more impurity rich than the top layer and more ice-rich than the bottom layer of b for both scenarios to match Dawn gravity inversions The composition gradient in c depends on the ice content in the near subsurface to match gravity inversions This simulation was run in a uniformly 90% ice crust (Fig. 1a) at the equator and shows total vertical displacement after 1 Gyr of relaxation The black lines are the initial state of the simulation and the solid colour shows the final state of the simulation the crater has only shallowed by ~70 m from an initial depth of 2,400 m (seen as the solid colour at the centre of the crater slightly offset from the black line) solid line) experiences the least amount of relaxation (~20%) in this crustal structure and the same thing very well may have occurred on Ceres Both soluble impurities and suspended colloidal solutions may work in tandem to help trap impurities between ice grains and increase the strength of Ceres’ crust decreasing porosity in a uniform crust would also explain this observation Our gradational crustal structure agrees with the top-down freezing ocean model and the observed density profile Regardless of the mechanism of crustal formation our results show that either method can allow more ice than previously thought making Ceres more similar to other ocean worlds with ice-rich shells Impact and relaxation simulations focused on planetary-scale basins could further help elucidate the evolutionary pathway of Ceres’ ancient ocean We use the FEM software COMSOL Multiphysics to run our viscoelastic simulations We use the thermal physics module to set up a temperature profile through the interior and the solid mechanics module to simulate relaxation The mesh is designed to be finer near the crater We tested a few cases and found that our results do not notably change by increasing the resolution of the mesh compared with the simulations presented here which may allow a few more Kelvin in the near subsurface Our simulations include both elastic and viscous deformation Elastic deformation in our model is controlled by Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio Elastic deformation is small on geological timescales; our results are not sensitive to small changes in the elastic parameters Viscous deformation is the dominant control on whether craters are maintained over geological timescales we solve the Stokes equations for conservation of mass and momentum \(\rho\) is the density (917 kg m−3 for ice 2,500 kg m−3 for impurities) and g is the acceleration due to gravity vector (0.27 m s−2 on Ceres) At the end of the simulations (1 Gyr of deformation) we calculate the per cent relaxation of the crater We define ‘per cent relaxation’ as the ratio of the difference in elevation between the crater rim and floor at the beginning and end of the simulation we define the floor elevation as the centre of the crater which is one-fifth the diameter of the crater Complex craters have relatively flat floors but for the topographic profiles we used in our simulations there is a slight slope down towards the centre of the crater We define the floor elevation of the complex craters as the elevation where the relatively flat floor and peak meet We note that the floor elevation is the deepest part of the crater in each simulation will have the highest stresses (and displacement) including the crater and surrounding terrain and the wall that is not being rotated around (to make the model 2D axisymmetric) is allowed to deform in the z direction but not the r direction Data from NASA’s Dawn mission are available to the public in the NASA Planetary Data System’s small bodies node (https://pds-smallbodies.astro.umd.edu/) The code used to simulate relaxing craters is available on Figshare at https://figshare.com/projects/An_ancient_and_impure_frozen_ocean_on_Ceres_implied_by_its_ice-rich_crust/210268 The code was made in the COMOSL Multiphysics Software and requires a licence for the software as well as the Solid Mechanics and Nonlinear Materials modules Ceres’ evolution and present state constrained by shape data Differentiation of the asteroid Ceres as revealed by its shape Brucite and carbonate assemblages from altered olivine-rich materials on Ceres Predicted crater morphologies on Ceres: probing internal structure and evolution Constraints on Ceres’ internal structure and evolution from its shape and gravity measured by the Dawn spacecraft Extensive water ice within Ceres’ aqueously altered regolith: evidence from nuclear spectroscopy Cratering on Ceres: implications for its crust and evolution A global inventory of ice-related morphological features on dwarf planet Ceres: implications for the evolution and current state of the cryosphere The interior structure of Ceres as revealed by surface topography Composition and structure of the shallow subsurface of Ceres revealed by crater morphology Insights into Ceres’s evolution from surface composition Properties of CO2 clathrate hydrates formed in the presence of MgSO4 solutions with implications for icy moons The varied sources of faculae-forming brines in Ceres’ Occator crater emplaced via hydrothermal brine effusion Impact-driven mobilization of deep crustal brines on dwarf planet Ceres Dawn arrives at Ceres: exploration of a small A partially differentiated interior for (1) Ceres deduced from its gravity field and shape Ceres’ partial differentiation: undifferentiated crust mixing with a water-rich mantle Hydrothermal dynamics in a CM-based model of Ceres and cryovolcanism on Ceres with a muddy ice mantle Induced magnetic fields as evidence for subsurface oceans in Europa and Callisto Mystery of Callisto: is it undifferentiated Inhibition of grain boundary sliding in fine-grained ice by intergranular particles: implications for planetary ice masses A review of the microstructural location of impurities in polar ice and their impacts on deformation Evidence of non-uniform crust of Ceres from Dawn’s high-resolution gravity data Freezing colloidal suspensions: periodic ice lenses and compaction and inorganic ions into lake ice during ice formation The composition and structure of Ceres’ interior Cryovolcanic rates on Ceres revealed by topography Dome formation on Ceres by solid-state flow analogous to terrestrial salt tectonics Ceres: astrobiological target and possible ocean world Science drivers for the future exploration of Ceres: from solar system evolution to ocean world science Concepts for the future exploration of dwarf planet Ceres’ habitability Impact Cratering: A Geologic Process (Oxford Univ Creep of water ices at planetary conditions: a compilation Superplastic deformation of ice: experimental observations Download references This work was funded by NASA Discovery Data Analysis Program (DDAP) grant 80NSSC22K1062 created and ran the finite element method simulations and led the writing of the manuscript All authors conceptualized the study and edited the manuscript The authors declare no competing interests Nature Astronomy thanks Lauren Schurmeier and the other reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Crater diameter and depth are reported in kilometres but displacement from relaxation is reported in metres See Methods for definition of ‘floor’ for simple and complex craters as well as ‘per cent relaxation’ The location for ‘rim displacement’ was taken from the peak of the rim See Supplementary Data 1 caption for additional information Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-024-02350-4 Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science Images of the surface of Ceres showing high abundances of organic materials The large craters Urvara (top) and Yalode (bottom) of Ceres as seen by the Dawn spacecraft "The significance of this discovery lies in the fact that it would confirm the existence of internal energy sources that could support  biological processes." Using data from NASA's now-defunct Dawn spacecraft scientists have discovered that the dwarf planet Ceres the second wettest body in the solar system after Earth could have an interior reserve rich in organic materials — the building blocks of life Researchers from Spain's Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía used Dawn data to identify 11 more regions on Ceres rich in organic material. This indicated to the team that a reservoir of organic materials exists within Ceres With a width of over 578 miles (930 kilometers) Ceres doesn't quite meet the criteria of a planet That means it is also an object with potential significance in the search for life beyond Earth There was already heated discussion surrounding Ceres' origin and evolution The problem arises from the fact that organic compounds are rapidly degraded by solar radiation and if these materials were always on the surface of Ceres they should have been destroyed or at least have their abundances reduced Most of the 11 regions discovered in the Dawn data were found in this region toward the equator of Ceres The materials in the sites around the Ernutet crater had been exposed to more solar radiation than those in the crater That degraded the spectral features of the exposed material so the material must originate from deeper regions than the material ejected from other basins or craters," Rizos said The scientist added that if the presence of organics is confirmed their origin leaves little doubt that these compounds were created in the interior of Ceres And the quantities of the materials detected by the team hint that organic molecules must exist in great amounts below the surface of Ceres —  Dwarf planet Ceres has way more organic molecules than originally suspected  —  Could the dwarf planet Ceres support life? suggesting that organic materials were recently released to the surface of Ceres by asteroid impacts are supported by separate results delivered by a team of Italian scientists This separate team found that organic compounds degrade more rapidly under solar radiation than previously estimated "The idea of an organic reservoir in such a remote and seemingly inert location like Ceres raises the possibility that similar conditions could exist on other solar system bodies," Rizos concluded Ceres will be revisited by new probes in the near future and our research will be key in defining the observational strategy for these missions." The team's results were published in the Planetary Science Journal. US House space committee wants a standard lunar clock Ceres is the largest object in the main asteroid belt and the only potential ocean world in the inner Solar System A global scan for organic-rich sites on Ceres using a deep neural network revealed two new sites close to the well-known Ernutet crater “Ceres is the largest object in the main asteroid belt and the only potential ocean world in the inner Solar System,” said Dr Ranjan Sarkar from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research and his colleagues “It is key to understanding not only the formation and evolution of individual planetary bodies but also the structure of the Solar System.” “Its current location within the asteroid belt provides conditions for the potential long-term preservation of water ice beneath its surface.” “The overall carbonaceous chondritic composition of Ceres has been known for many years but the high spatial resolution data from NASA’s Dawn mission enabled individual evolutionary steps and small unique surface materials to become detectable.” the discovery of organic-rich sites is an important one,” they added “Previous research had identified three craters on Ceres — Ernutet and Urvara — that contain detectable deposits of complex organic compounds.” the authors aimed to better understand the global distribution and geologic context of all the organic-rich sites on Ceres They used a deep neural network to scan the dwarf planet’s surface and identify any additional organic-rich areas that may have been missed in earlier studies They found that only two of the newly-identified reddish sites actually contain organic material At the previously known organic-rich sites of Ernutet the organic material is found to be confined to just the upper surface layer There is also an absence of geological features that would suggest an internal and devoid of any cryovolcanic signatures,” Dr “The vast majority of deposits can be found along the edge or near the large Ernutet crater in the northern hemisphere of the dwarf planet.” “Only three are located at a greater distance from it “A closer look at the geological structures at the locations of the organic material allows further conclusions.” there are no deep impact craters nearby,” said Dr also from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research the first assumption is that Ceres’ unique cryovolcanism has transported the organic material from the interior of the body to the surface,” said Dr “And where organic compounds have been reliably detected there is no evidence of deep or surface activity.” The study was published in the journal AGU Advances Ceres: Organic-Rich Sites of Exogenic Origin AGU Advances 6 (1): e2024AV001362; doi: 10.1029/2024AV001362 Bright yellow deposits in Consus Crater bear witness to dwarf planet Ceres' cryovolcanic past - and revive the debate about its place of origin The dwarf planet Ceres has a diameter of almost 1000 kilometres and is located in the asteroid belt Ceres gained new fame as the main base of the so called ‘belters’: in this series humans colonize the asteroid belt for mining Ceres is no less prominent in the real world either it was not entirely clear whether the dwarf planet has formed in the asteroid belt or whether it had migrated inwards from the edge of the solar system A research team led by the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Göttingen has found ammonium-rich deposits in the Consus crater in data from NASA's Dawn space probe Arriving at its destination: This illustration shows how the Dawn space probe reaches the dwarf planet Ceres Dwarf planet Ceres is an unusual “inhabitant” of the asteroid belt it is not only the largest body between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter; unlike its rather simple ‘fellow inhabitants’ it is also characterized by an extremely complex and varied geology NASA's Dawn space probe discovered widespread ammonium deposits on the surface of Ceres Some researchers assume that frozen ammonium played a role in the formation of the dwarf planet ammonium is only stable in the outer solar system which indicates an origin far from the asteroid belt new findings from the Consus crater speak against this Ceres appeared to have been the scene of unique cryovolcanism until recently - and probably still is The underlying data was obtained by NASA's Dawn space probe when it studied Ceres up close from 2015 to 2018 The data point to an eventful past in which Ceres changed and evolved over many billions of years whitish salt deposits can be found in several impact craters Deposits in the Consus crater could indicate ammonium-rich material that has reached the surface from the depths of the dwarf planet due to Ceres' volcanism researchers believe the deposits are remnants of a brine that has seeped to the surface from a liquid layer between the mantle and crust over many billions of years Images and measurement data from the Consus crater which the team has now analysed in greater detail than ever before now show such material that is yellowish in colour The presence of ammonium therefore does not necessarily indicate an origin in the outer solar system - Ceres could have formed where it is orbiting today Consus Crater is located in the southern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres The most striking structure in its interior is a smaller crater (“floor crater”) in its eastern half A flat central mountain rises up in the center of Consus Crater Conus Crater is located on Ceres’ southern hemisphere it is not one of the dwarf planet’s particularly large impact craters Images taken by Dawn's scientific camera system which was developed and built under the lead of the MPS show a circumferential crater wall that rises about 4.5 kilometers above the crater floor and has partially eroded inwards It encloses a smaller crater covering an area of about 15 kilometers by eleven kilometers that dominates the eastern half of Consus’ crater floor bright material is found in isolated speckles exclusively on the edge of the smaller crater and in an area slightly to the east of it As the new analysis of data from the camera system and the VIR spectrometer suggests the yellowish bright material in Consus Crater is rich in ammonium which differs from ammonia by an additional hydrogen ion is almost omnipresent on the surface of Ceres in the form of ammonium-rich minerals scientists believed that these minerals could only have formed through contact with ammonium ice in the cold at the outer edge of the Solar System where frozen ammonium is stable over long periods of time Ceres must therefore have formed at the edge of the Solar System and only later “relocated” to the asteroid belt The current study now shows for the first time a connection between ammonium and the salty brine from Ceres’ interior The team argues that therefore the dwarf planet’s origin does not necessarily have to be in the outer Solar System Ceres could also be truly native to the asteroid belt is found exclusively on the edge of the smaller crater and in its immediate eastern vicinity The researchers assume that the components of ammonium were already contained in Ceres’ original building blocks As ammonium does not combine with the typical minerals in Ceres' mantle it gradually accumulated in a thick layer of brine that extended globally between the dwarf planet's mantle and crust Cryovolcanic activity caused the ammonium-rich brine to rise repeatedly over the course of billions of years and the ammonium it contained gradually seeped into the large-scale phyllosilicates of Ceres' crust which are characterized by a layer-like crystal structure “The minerals in Ceres’ crust possibly absorbed the ammonium over many billions of years like a kind of sponge,” explains MPS scientist Dr first author of the current study and former Lead Investigator of Dawn’s camera team There is much to suggest that the concentration of ammonium is greater in deeper layers of the crust than near the surface The few places on the surface of Ceres where conspicuous patches of the yellowish-bright material can be found outside Consus Crater are also located within deep craters the impact that created the small eastern crater only 280 million years ago is likely to have exposed material from the deep particularly ammonium-rich layers in Consus Crater The yellowish-bright speckles to the east of the smaller crater are material that was ejected as a result of the impact Consus Crater is not particularly old by geological standards but it is one of the oldest surviving structures on Ceres it gives us access to processes that took place in the interior of Ceres over many billions of years - and is thus a kind of window into the dwarf planet's past,” says MPS researcher Dr Introducing the all-new Astronomy.com Forum! Become a part of our Community!  >> Visit Now Dwarf planet Ceres is one of the most enigmatic worlds in our solar system — one whose secrets scientists have only been uncovering in the last decade salt-rich world that might have — or once have had —  an ocean new research provides evidence that it might also hold the right stuff for life In a paper published Wednesday in Science Advances researchers present evidence that a series of chemicals called long-chain aliphatic organics (AOs) — basically long chains of hydrocarbons that often form natural lipids (fats) — may have formed within Ceres and come to the surface via cryovolcanism.  Related: Explore Ceres’ icy secrets Prior to this study, scientists knew there were AOs on Ceres but whether they had been deposited onto the surface by meteorites or present already was unclear The latter idea bolsters the case that Ceres was once an oceanic world as similar compounds are found on other water worlds like Enceladus The relative abundance of these chemicals on Ceres was also too high to have come from meteorites alone Ceres is the largest object in the main belt And it doesn’t look much like other objects there; scientists think it may have formed farther out in the solar system where other dwarf planets like Pluto and Eris reside It may have once hosted an ocean that lasted for hundreds of millions of years and now may exist only in localized pockets under reservoirs of slushy brines nearer the surface That means the AOs seen on Ceres’ surface must have formed recently the AOs are found near sites that have other evidence of plumelike activity We have identified very recent (in geological time)  mountains domes and fractures,” says lead author Maria Cristina De Sanctis a planetary scientist at INAF-Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali in Italy “The presence of AOs that should be recent confirms that Ceres can be considered a still evolving body.” To determine why they were seeing such high concentrations of AOs the team took Dawn data and compared it against a recreation of Ceres-like conditions in a lab This mini-Ceres was given AOs and then subjected to the various kinds of radiation you’d expect in interplanetary space near its orbit around the Sun The team tracked the breakdown of the AOs to estimate when the currently observed AOs may have made it to the surface the team believes AOs buried beneath the surface were exposed over time strengthening the case that they came from the deep ocean of Ceres The results also showed that the current abundance is probably the result of even higher abundances of AOs being pushed up to the surface with some breaking down before more was pushed up.  De Sanctis says that the presence of clays and organics all point to the main-belt world having the right chemicals the high quantity of AO and the kind of AO (spectrally similar to terrestrial kerogens [which contain detritus from dead organisms]) increase the potential of Ceres in terms of habitability,” she says Our understanding of the many ocean worlds in our solar system is just beginning Although researchers are still combing through the wealth of data from the now-ended Dawn mission the new mysteries they’ve uncovered at such a nearby world might mean it could soon be due for another updates and special offers via email from Astronomy.com Astronomy leads the astronomy hobby as the most popular magazine of its kind in the world Count me in Subscribers can access their digital magazine issues and registered users can participate in our Community forums and galleries and receive alerts when they’re in the news Proactive financial news and online broadcast teams provide fast informative and actionable business and finance news content to a global investment audience All our content is produced independently by our experienced and qualified teams of news journalists Proactive news team spans the world’s key finance and investing hubs with bureaus and studios in London We are experts in medium and small-cap markets we also keep our community up to date with blue-chip companies commodities and broader investment stories This is content that excites and engages motivated private investors The team delivers news and unique insights across the market including but not confined to: biotech and pharma crypto and emerging digital and EV technologies Proactive has always been a forward looking and enthusiastic technology adopter Our human content creators are equipped with many decades of valuable expertise and experience The team also has access to and use technologies to assist and enhance workflows Proactive will on occasion use automation and software tools all content published by Proactive is edited and authored by humans in line with best practice in regard to content production and search engine optimisation It has been a rough ride for hydrogen stocks lately but one investment bank thinks there are still reasons to look closely at the UK names In a new sector update, RBC Capital Markets reiterated its preference for ITM Power PLC (AIM:ITM) keeping an 'outperform' rating and a 70p price target suggesting plenty of upside from the current level ITM’s recent commercial momentum is encouraging It raised revenue and cash guidance for 2025 and looks increasingly confident about its pipeline but RBC points out that these are being cleared out and newer deals should offer better margins the market is effectively valuing ITM's cash pile but assigning little to no worth to the business itself especially given a more disciplined management team now in place Meanwhile, Ceres Power Holdings PLC (LSE:CWR, OTC:CPWHF) is still seen as a mixed story RBC has a 'sector perform' rating here and trimmed its price target to 90p from 110p The problem for Ceres lies in partner risk: after Bosch scaled back its involvement questions hang over how fast Ceres can grow its royalty streams The solid oxide technology also lags behind better-established systems like PEM (proton exchange membrane) electrolysers when it comes to green hydrogen scale-up particularly as funding conditions tighten But the UK remains in focus for green hydrogen development helped by government-backed initiatives like the HySpeed project and HAR2 funding rounds That should benefit domestic players like ITM if investors are willing to look beyond the near-term volatility there could still be real opportunities in the sector and ITM Power looks better placed than most to make the most of them Sign up to receive alerts and news direct to your inbox Autonomix Medical CEO Brad Hauser joined Steve Darling from Proactive to announce a significant milestone in the company’s development of breakthrough neuro-modulation technology The company has released a compelling new video testimonial from a patient who participated in the initial phase of.. 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Terms of use Bright material on the floor of Occator Crater on Ceres is believed to be deposits from the welling up of a buried ocean is therefore the most accessible icy world in the universe.' which at 588 miles (946 kilometers) across is the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter Yet planetary scientists were generally not convinced particularly after NASA's Dawn spacecraft gave us our first good look at Ceres which the probe orbited between 2015 and 2018.  and crater walls made of ice will eventually soften and flow back into the surface leading to the craters becoming shallow or non-existent Yet Dawn found that there were plenty of stark craters with steep walls on Ceres' battered terrain "The conclusion after NASA's Dawn mission was that the crust could not be that icy," said Pamerleau.  and Jennifer Scully of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory ran computer simulations that modeled how Ceres' craters would behave across billions of years allowing craters to persist for the lifetime of the dwarf planet "Our interpretation of all this is that Ceres used to be an ocean world like Europa it created an icy crust with a little bit of rocky material trapped in it." forming a shallow ocean beneath a thin layer of ice Researchers would love to find out how long this ocean persisted for because even after the thermal heat of Ceres' birth had leaked out heat from radioactive isotopes could have kept the ocean liquid for longer it would be easier to study Ceres' frozen ocean to find the answers to questions such as this "To me, the exciting part of all this, if we're right, is that we have a frozen ocean world pretty close to Earth," says Sori. Its proximity to us and lack of other dangers, such as the radiation that missions to Europa face at Jupiter could render Ceres relatively easy to retrieve samples from There are areas where the underlying ocean seems to have burst through to the surface such as the bright areas seen by Dawn in Occator Crater among others.  is therefore the most accessible icy world in the universe," Sori concluded and has a degree in physics and astrophysics from the University of Manchester He's the author of "The Contact Paradox: Challenging Our Assumptions in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence" (Bloomsbury Sigma 2020) and has written articles on astronomy physics and astrobiology for a multitude of magazines and websites A whole 'population' of minimoons may be lurking near Earth 10 must-have 'Star Wars' books and novels coming soon to your galaxy Scientists have detected organic molecules on Ceres Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt, may hold answers to fundamental questions about the Solar System. This dwarf planet, positioned between Mars and Jupiter is the only inner Solar System body that could be considered an "ocean world." Scientists believe its icy subsurface could have preserved water for billions of years But what makes Ceres even more intriguing is the presence of organic material—key building blocks of life revealed surprising details about its composition Data from the mission confirmed the presence of organic-rich regions These findings add Ceres to a short list of Solar System bodies known to host complex organic compounds a characteristic often associated with objects much farther from the Sun Organic materials can originate in multiple ways within molecular clouds and stellar ejecta and later get incorporated into asteroids and planets Others are created through internal processes such as volcanic activity or chemical reactions within a planetary body Understanding where the organics on Ceres come from could help scientists determine whether life-friendly environments have existed beyond Earth Ceres' organic-rich regions are not evenly distributed across its surface The deposits stretch over an area of about 1,000 square kilometers and extend into neighboring craters Additional organic sites exist at craters like Inamahari and Urvara but they are far from the primary cluster near Ernutet Identifying organic materials remotely requires specialized tools. The Dawn spacecraft used spectrometers to analyze light reflected from the surface Certain molecular structures absorb light at specific wavelengths allowing scientists to determine their composition exhibit absorption features near 3.4 micrometers in the infrared spectrum distinguishing them from carbonates—common on Ceres—requires a closer look at spectral signatures around 4.0 micrometers Another key indicator of organic material is a "red slope" in the visible and near-infrared spectrum caused by electronic transitions in carbon increases reflectance at longer wavelengths Scientists found that the organic deposits on Ceres displayed this red-sloped signature which is more commonly seen on objects in the outer Solar System This observation raised an important question: Did these organics originate on Ceres but their presence does not necessarily mean life existed They can form naturally in space and accumulate on planetary surfaces over time Some of the oldest bodies in the Solar System, including comets and Kuiper Belt objects the key question is whether the detected organics were generated internally or arrived from elsewhere The possibility of an endogenous source—a process within Ceres—was initially considered The dwarf planet is known for cryovolcanism If organic compounds had formed in an underground ocean they could have been transported by these processes researchers found no correlation between cryovolcanic activity and organic deposits The regions with organic-rich material lacked signs of past or present geological activity scientists propose that the organics came from asteroid impacts The study findings are published in the journal AGU Advances Computer models show that objects from the outer asteroid belt frequently collide with Ceres Unlike high-speed impacts that generate extreme heat these collisions occur at lower velocities The organic-rich deposits likely resulted from such an event delivering material that had formed in the cold Ranjan Sarkar, a researcher from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research “Sites of such organic molecules are actually rare on Ceres and devoid of any cryovolcanic signatures.” His team used artificial intelligence to scan the entire surface for organic material and confirmed that most deposits are concentrated near Ernutet The lack of deep impact craters or surface disruptions supports the idea that the organics were introduced by asteroid impacts rather than internal geological processes The discovery of organic molecules on Ceres has significant implications for astrobiology These compounds are the foundation of life on Earth suggesting that the basic ingredients for life may be widespread in the Solar System If organic-rich asteroids delivered material to Ceres similar processes could have supplied Earth with prebiotic chemistry billions of years ago While Dawn's instruments provided crucial insights The spacecraft could not identify specific organic molecules or determine their complexity would be needed to confirm whether Ceres’ interior also contains organic material Andreas Nathues, a scientist involved in the Dawn mission, acknowledges this challenge: “Unfortunately, Dawn can't detect all types of organic compounds. It is quite likely that building blocks of life were also formed in Ceres’ underground ocean and perhaps even reached the surface—or are still doing so.” Future missions could offer direct evidence of whether Ceres has an active organic cycle or if its interior remains a potential habitat for prebiotic chemistry Ceres remains one of the most intriguing bodies in the Solar System and position in the asteroid belt make it a unique world that bridges the gap between inner and outer planetary systems While the origin of its organic material may be linked to asteroid impacts the possibility of an internal source cannot be entirely ruled out Unlocking these mysteries will require the next generation of space exploration Note: Materials provided above by The Brighter Side of News Content may be edited for style and length Like these kind of feel good stories? Get The Brighter Side of News' newsletter Rebecca Shavit is a dedicated science and technology journalist who writes for The Brighter Side of News an online publication committed to highlighting positive and transformative stories from around the world With a passion for uncovering groundbreaking discoveries and innovations she brings to light the scientific advancements shaping a better future Her reporting spans a wide range of topics from cutting-edge medical breakthroughs and artificial intelligence to green technology and space exploration With a keen ability to translate complex concepts into engaging and accessible stories she makes science and innovation relatable to a broad audience Metrics details Yet most of Ceres’s craters are not shallow Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout Pamerleau, I. F., Sori, M. M. & Scully, J. E. C. Nat. Astron. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-024-02350-4 (2024) Download references Hawai’i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology Reprints and permissions Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-024-02316-6 New research shows that a crust with nearly 90% ice near the surface simultaneously matches the Dawn observations This false-color image shows the dwarf planet Ceres Scientists use false color to examine differences in surface materials The color blue on Ceres is generally associated with bright material Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA “Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt lumpy things as asteroids (and most of them are!) but Ceres really looks more like a planet,” said Purdue University researcher Mike Sori “We think that there’s lots of water-ice near Ceres surface and that it gets gradually less icy as you go deeper and deeper.” “People used to think that if Ceres was very icy the craters would deform quickly over time we’ve shown through our simulations that ice can be much stronger in conditions on Ceres than previously predicted if you mix in just a little bit of solid rock.” This discovery is contradictory to the previous belief that Ceres was relatively dry The common assumption was that Ceres was less than 30% ice but Sori’s team now believes the surface is more like 90% ice “Our interpretation of all this is that Ceres used to be an ocean world like Europa (one of Jupiter’s moons) it created an icy crust with a little bit of rocky material trapped in it.” The authors used computer simulations to model how relaxation occurs for craters on Ceres over billions of years “Even solids will flow over long timescales and ice flows more readily than rock,” said Purdue University Ph.D “Craters have deep bowls which produce high stresses that then relax to a lower stress state resulting in a shallower bowl via solid state flow.” “So the conclusion after NASA’s Dawn mission was that due to the lack of relaxed “Our computer simulations account for a new way that ice can flow with only a little bit of non-ice impurities mixed in which would allow for a very ice-rich crust to barely flow even over billions of years.” we could get an ice-rich Ceres that still matches the observed lack of crater relaxation.” “We tested different crustal structures in these simulations and found that a gradational crust with a high ice content near the surface that grades down to lower ice with depth was the best way to limit relaxation of Cerean craters.” is that we have a frozen ocean world pretty close to Earth,” Dr “Ceres may be a valuable point of comparison for the ocean-hosting icy moons of the outer Solar System like Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Enceladus.” is therefore the most accessible icy world in the Universe That makes it a great target for future spacecraft missions.” “Some of the bright features we see at Ceres’ surface are the remnants of Ceres’ muddy ocean “So we have a place to collect samples from the ocean of an ancient ocean world that is not too difficult to send a spacecraft to.” The findings were published in the journal Nature Astronomy An ancient and impure frozen ocean on Ceres implied by its ice-rich crust This article was adapted from an original release by Purdue University Six years after NASA’s Dawn mission concluded its remarkable exploration of the asteroid belt’s largest bodies new findings continue to reshape our understanding of these celestial objects Recent research led by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC) has identified 11 previously unknown regions on Ceres hinting at an internal reservoir of organic materials Published in The Planetary Science Journal the study draws on Dawn mission data and innovative analysis methods to deepen our understanding of this enigmatic dwarf planet In 2017, NASA’s Dawn spacecraft detected organic compounds near the Ernutet crater in Ceres’ northern hemisphere The prevailing hypothesis suggested an exogenous origin where organic materials were delivered by impacts from organic-rich comets or asteroids the new study explores an alternative scenario – that these organic materials formed within Ceres itself and have been preserved in a subsurface reservoir that is shielded from solar radiation “The significance of this discovery lies in the fact that, if these are endogenous materials, it would confirm the existence of internal energy sources that could support biological processes,” explains Juan Luis Rizos, lead author and researcher at IAA-CSIC With a diameter of over 930 kilometers, Ceres is a fascinating dwarf planet nestled in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and is the most water-rich body in the inner solar system after Earth Discovered way back in 1801 by Giuseppe Piazzi Ceres was the first asteroid to be identified and later reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006 It’s the largest object in the asteroid belt Ceres has a rocky core surrounded by a mantle of water ice which hints that it might have a subsurface ocean This possibility has scientists buzzing because it raises questions about whether Ceres could support some form of life or at least have the right ingredients for it it bridges the gap between smaller asteroids and fully-fledged planets Its abundance of water ice and potential liquid water beneath the surface place it among the solar system’s ocean worlds and make it a tantalizing target for astrobiological research Ceres’ composition links it to carbonaceous chondrites a type of meteorite that is rich in carbon compounds Such meteorites are considered relics of the material that formed the solar system 4.6 billion years ago The study employed a unique approach to analyze Ceres’ surface and organic material distribution. Using Spectral Mixture Analysis (SMA), the researchers characterized compounds near the Ernutet crater They then used high-resolution spatial images from Dawn’s Framing Camera 2 (FC2) to systematically scan the entire surface This dual approach enabled the identification of 11 new regions potentially rich in organic compounds Many of these areas are near the equatorial region where prolonged solar radiation exposure has degraded organic materials high-resolution spectral analysis using Dawn’s VIR imaging spectrometer confirmed the presence of organic compounds particularly in a region between the Urvara and Yalode basins the organic materials appear within geological features formed by impacts suggesting they originated from deeper subsurface layers “These impacts were the most violent Ceres has experienced so the material must originate from deeper regions than the material ejected from other basins or craters,” clarifies Rizos “If the presence of organics is confirmed their origin leaves little doubt that these compounds are endogenous materials.” These findings align with a related study by Italian collaborators who demonstrated that organic compounds degrade more rapidly under solar radiation than previously estimated The observed quantities and degradation levels suggest that vast reservoirs of organic material likely exist beneath the surface of Ceres “The idea of an organic reservoir in such a remote and seemingly inert location like Ceres raises the possibility that similar conditions could exist on other solar system bodies,” Rizos concludes and our research will be key in defining the observational strategy for these missions.” As researchers continue to unravel the mysteries of Ceres, its significance in planetary science and space exploration grows The potential presence of internal organic reservoirs not only sheds light on the dwarf planet’s geologic and chemical evolution but also enhances its appeal as a target for future missions With its unique characteristics and abundant resources Ceres stands as a key destination in humanity’s journey to understand the solar system’s past and secure its future in space exploration “Ceres will play a key role in future space exploration present as ice and possibly as liquid beneath the surface makes it an intriguing location for resource exploration,” predicts Rizos “In the context of space colonization Ceres could serve as a stopover or resource base for future missions to Mars or beyond.” All these features make Ceres a key player in our understanding of the early solar system and the potential for habitable environments beyond Earth The research is published in the journals The Planetary Science Journal and Science Advances Like what you read? Subscribe to our newsletter for engaging articles Check us out on EarthSnap, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com New evidence suggests the dwarf planet was a muddy ocean world that froze over time The makeup of the dwarf planet Ceres—the biggest object in the asteroid belt—presents a riddle Gravity and spectrographic data from a recent NASA mission suggest it is made mostly of ice But its heavily dimpled and pockmarked surface seems to contradict this possibility: Ice is too soft to maintain such deep craters over billions of years.Now a team of researchers has found a potential answer to the riddle: dirty ice muddy ocean world that gradually froze over as the dwarf planet lost heat it could offer a peek at the potential trajectories of more distant ocean worlds such as Europa and Enceladus “The craters are telling us that it isn’t icy but then everything else is saying it’s very icy,” says Lauren Schurmeier an associate researcher at the University of Hawaii at Manoa who studies icy moons and was not involved in the study “What this paper resolved was that it probably is icy but it’s dirtier ice than we would have expected.” It’s exciting that Ceres was probably an ocean world in its past Researchers from Purdue University and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab modeled the ways different mixtures of impurities in the ice could have yielded lasting craters in the surface of Ceres over billions of years. Their findings, published in Nature Astronomy suggest that Ceres is very icy on the surface with a gradient of increasing impurities going deeper into the crust “It gets less icy as you go deeper and deeper,” says Michael Sori, an assistant professor at Purdue University’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences. “That represents the ocean slowly freezing over time and trapping more and more dirt into the frozen ice.” The researchers used data from a 2018 ice impurity study which found the rigidity of ice could be ramped up by adding as little as 6 percent impurities a graduate student at Purdue University and first author on the paper contains a salt deposit that seems to have erupted from below This deposit could indicate the presence of briny water still lurking deep beneath the dwarf planet’s crust Ceres is the closest icy object to Earth and is relatively accessible in the grand scheme of planetary exploration If a future mission to Ceres collects samples of Occator Crater’s salt deposits and brings them back to Earth scientists could analyze the materials brewing below the crust and determine whether any liquid ocean remains “It’s exciting that Ceres was probably an ocean world in its past,” says Schurmeier “Ceres just gets cooler the more we look at it.” Lead image: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA / Justin Cowart unraveled by the very brightest living thinkers You’ve read your 2 free articles this month Access unlimited ad-free stories like this one sign up for the free Nautilus newsletter: science and culture for people who love beautiful writing On Friday, March 28, signs were posted inside Café Cerés locations, a day after Southwest Voices revealed an email had been sent to staff confirming the impending closures by the DDP Restaurant Group which is owned by Twin Cities restaurateur Daniel Del Prado we have made the difficult decision to close Café Cerés," the signs read "We are deeply grateful for the support you've shown us over the years It's been an honor to serve you and be part of your daily routine The company shared a statement through the law firm Fisher Phillips with similar language "Our most immediate priority is to ensure that our impacted Café team members are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve during this process," the statement adds "We are working with Unite Here Local 17 as we work through the effects of this difficult business decision." Last August, roughly 30 Café Cerés employees voted to unionize with Unite Here 17 They did so simultaneously with employees at Colita "Heads of restaurant empires like Daniel del Prado would rather close shop than give a fair share to the workers who make them rich," a representative for Unite Here 17 tells Bring Me The News.  "Café Cerés charges $16 for a bacon egg and cheese sandwich but refuses to pay its baristas more than minimum wage The restaurant industry is fundamentally broken and workers will not stop organizing and demanding more from their employers until they have the basic respect and healthcare they need," the statement continues When informed of employees' decision to unionize the company did not voluntarily recognize the union forcing a vote that was overseen by the National Labor Relations Board The union says 88% of eligible staff members cast a ballot in favor of unionization.  The union members had not reached terms on their first contract with DDP Restaurant Group after months of negotiations A sign on the counter at Café Cerés The Fisher Phillips website says it offers "Union Assistance" for the hospitality industry "Hospitality jobs can't be exported making you a prime target for union organizing activities," the firm's site tells prospective clients "Several labor unions have targeted your industry and are desperate to recruit new dues-paying members from your ranks we proactively help you create a workplace environment where employees don't see the need for a union and fend off a union organizing campaign before it gets off the ground." DDP Restaurant Group operates four Café Cerés locations in Minneapolis, with the location near Minnehaha Falls opening up just last summer on the street level of the Wakpada Apartment building Café Cerés is the home of the revered baker Shawn McKenzie, who is also the executive pastry chef of Rustica and was a finalist in the Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker category at the James Beard Awards in 2023 saying he'd killed the mother of his child which features a swimming beach and splash pad in the venerable Farmers and and Mechanics Savings Bank building with criminal charges indicating the driver's actions were intentional five days after workers were notified of the plan to shutter the Uptown restaurant they found it was likely once a muddy ocean world coming within 233 miles (375 km) of its surface Ceres looks a bit like Mercury or the far side of our moon Astronomers had long thought that because the dwarf planet is covered in craters Be a part of something big! EarthSky has upped its game with a fresh community photo page, engaging livestreams, and thrilling watch parties. Your donation can help us reach our $50,000 match goal. Let’s make an impact together! The team made their conclusions after running simulations of how Ceres’ crust evolved over billions of years. Mike Sori of Purdue University We think that there’s lots of water-ice near Ceres’ surface and that it gets gradually less icy as you go deeper and deeper People used to think that if Ceres was very icy we’ve shown through our simulations that ice can be much stronger in conditions on Ceres than previously predicted if you mix in just a little bit of solid rock Our interpretation of all this is that Ceres used to be an ‘ocean world’ like Europa (one of Jupiter’s moons) it created an icy crust with a little bit of rocky material trapped in it Ian Pamerleau another author also from Purdue University explained how they came to their conclusions: We used multiple observations made with Dawn data as motivation for finding an ice-rich crust that resisted crater relaxation on Ceres etc.) suggest the near subsurface of Ceres contains a lot of ice Spectrographic data also shows that there should be ice beneath the regolith [crust] on the dwarf planet And gravity data yields a density value very near that of ice We also took a topographic profile of an actual complex crater on Ceres and used it to construct the geometry for some of our simulations Even solids will flow over long timescales Craters have deep bowls which produce high stresses that then relax to a lower stress state resulting in a shallower bowl via solid state flow So the conclusion after NASA’s Dawn mission was that due to the lack of relaxed Our computer simulations account for a new way that ice can flow with only a little bit of non-ice impurities mixed in which would allow for a very ice-rich crust to barely flow even over billions of years we could get an ice-rich Ceres that still matches the observed lack of crater relaxation We tested different crustal structures in these simulations and found that a gradational crust with a high ice content near the surface that grades down to lower ice with depth was the best way to limit relaxation of Cerean craters is that we have a frozen ocean world pretty close to Earth Ceres may be a valuable point of comparison for the ocean-hosting icy moons of the outer solar system like Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Enceladus is therefore the most accessible icy world in the universe That makes it a great target for future spacecraft missions Some of the bright features we see at Ceres’ surface are the remnants of Ceres’ muddy ocean So we have a place to collect samples from the ocean of an ancient ocean world that is not too difficult to send a spacecraft to Bottom line: Ceres – a dwarf planet in the main asteroid belt – may once have been a muddy ocean world Source: An ancient and impure frozen ocean on Ceres implied by its ice-rich crust Via Purdue University We invite you to visit our campaign page to discover why we need your contributions now more than ever to preview an illustration from Guy Ottewell’s great book that we're helping finalize and to learn more about EarthSky’s history “Things are always so much more peaceful when looking up.” We couldn’t agree more we apologize for the popup and greatly appreciate your support consisting primarily of carbon and hydrogen and small amounts of other elements are widely regarded as essential ingredients for life these compounds form the basic building blocks of all living organisms.  scientists have discovered similar molecules on distant objects in the solar system Because these entities are believed to be largely unchanged since the solar system’s birth, many researchers suggest that the building blocks of life might have been present from the start, potentially traveling to the inner regions of the solar system later on a team of scientists set out to determine whether the dwarf planet Ceres situated within the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter contains previously uncharted deposits of organic material Because Ceres orbits in a region neither distinctly part of the inner nor the outer solar system it has sparked interest regarding the origins of its organic elements: Did they form locally The scientists examined the entire surface of Ceres for organic matter focusing on aliphatic hydrocarbons – chain-like compounds formed when water interacts with rock over long periods Earlier studies hinted that such compounds might be scattered across Ceres prompting researchers to delve deeper into their precise locations and geological contexts NASA’s Dawn spacecraft reached Ceres in March 2015 and spent about three and a half years mapping the dwarf planet’s surface with a sophisticated camera system and spectrometer.  By observing how the brightness of reflected light changes with different wavelengths scientists can infer the presence of organic materials.  which splits light into numerous wavelengths confirmed that these substances belong to the category of aliphatic hydrocarbons though it could not identify the exact molecular species The current study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience made use of an artificial intelligence system to analyze Dawn’s data The researchers wanted to locate all possible sites of aliphatic hydrocarbons across Ceres and compare them with the dwarf planet’s geological features “Sites of such organic molecules are actually rare on Ceres, and devoid of any cryovolcanic signatures,” said Ranjan Sarkar, the study’s first author from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) The majority of these deposits appear around the large Ernutet crater in Ceres’ northern hemisphere Two of the patches had not been previously identified.  Martin Hoffmann from MPS elaborated on what the team found Ceres has long been recognized as a cryovolcanic body containing a subsurface reservoir of salty water (or brine) that has been seeping up to the surface in certain locations.  initially seemed like a plausible mechanism for delivering organics to the surface from the dwarf planet’s interior the first assumption is that Ceres’ unique cryovolcanism has transported the organic material from the interior of the body to the surface But our results show otherwise,” said Andreas Nathues do not coincide with regions of cryovolcanic activity organics are conspicuously absent – and where organics lie there is no clear sign of volcanic or tectonic features.  This striking mismatch undermines the idea that cryovolcanic processes delivered these compounds from within the researchers propose that impacts from one or more asteroids in the outer asteroid belt brought the organic materials to Ceres.  Simulations suggest these particular outer belt asteroids frequently collide with Ceres at relatively modest speeds organics can survive the impact without being destroyed the organic deposits that have been reliably detected with Dawn so far likely do not originate Ceres itself,” Nathues explained He added that Dawn’s instruments cannot detect all organic compounds leaving open the possibility that some might have formed within Ceres’ own subsurface ocean and perhaps even reached the surface the study hints that Ceres may host different populations of organic molecules – some introduced by asteroid collisions others potentially produced within its interior the research team advocates for a future lander mission capable of directly sampling Ceres’ subsurface Such a mission would provide definitive answers about whether Ceres has been generating organic compounds within its hidden ocean – and whether that process continues today.  Understanding how and where these materials originated could shed light on broader questions about the distribution of life’s building blocks across the Solar System As scientists work toward unraveling the full story of organics on Ceres the study’s findings underscore the complexity of planetary surfaces and the myriad ways cosmic processes can shape them.  By combining advanced data analysis with ambitious exploration, researchers hope to learn more about how life-friendly ingredients form and travel, possibly revealing new clues about the origins of life on Earth and elsewhere Check us out on EarthSnap, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com Raymond Ceres ‘25 on his journey in filmmaking Raymond Ceres ‘25 was known at Pleasant Valley High School in Pa as the “film guy” due to his passion for movies but there was never really a community of people like him that were just as interested in discussing film his interests only blossomed as he discovered more and more independent art films and kept up with award races and film festivals This inspired him to apply to colleges with film programs he had the gut feeling that this was what he was meant to pursue.  “ I knew that film was my biggest interest and passion,” explains Ceres leading him towards experiences that would make him the multi-faceted filmmaker he is today “I started getting into filmmaking sophomore year when I met some upperclassmen who were making films and they were all doing it outside of class That was really inspiring to me,” explains Ceres “The first true production class I took was this special topics lighting class and that was the first time I started thinking deeply about the technical stuff with filmmaking… I started really just trying to learn the basics of camera lighting; the technical aspects that would help me remove a barrier from telling stories if I know how to technically make it happen.” Ceres learned by diving head first into the film community at Muhlenberg experimenting with the equipment available in Walson Hall and taking positions on as many film sets as he could He worked on a number of student-produced films and even worked as a cinematographer for a pilot shooting in the area.   “Every set has a unique circumstance the more I’m exposed to that and can learn how to approach different things… You see people having to problem solve new challenges and each person in solving those problems is bringing their wealth of knowledge and experience A lot of sets I’ve been on have had really great environments where you know people are friendly and willing to explain how a piece of equipment works.”  As Ceres learned more about film as an art form he began to take on more leadership roles on various projects in cinematography and direction His portfolio includes roles such as first assistant director of the student film “Mile House 69,” gaffer for “Banana Tree,” co-producer and cinematographer for “Right Behind You” and co-producer for “Rubbing Sticks,” a film made for his screendance class He and his team members are currently submitting a number of these films into film festivals Among these short films is also one that he wrote and directed during his semester abroad in Prague last spring entitled “It Drops at Midnight,” which was selected among a number of pitches from other students in his film intensive program at FAMU International This was a transformative experience for Ceres: “Being able to shoot a film in Prague of all places was incredible I got a lot of attention from the mentors in the program so I got a lot of feedback on my story and a lot of help with developing it That was my first experience solo directing a narrative project.”  “I feel like I only had a basic understanding of storytelling until that program because it’s a very narrative based program [FAMU] really equips you to be able to look at a story and know exactly how to tell it in an efficient way,”  Ceres has also used his knowledge about storytelling in film to experiment with photography “I was in Intermediate Photography and Advanced Photography and both of my projects were – I hate the term – but trying to create cinematic images that look like they could be stills in movies because that was kind of drawing on my background in film lighting and cinematography,” explains Ceres.  and I’m able to experiment and explore more than I am on set with different lighting and different locations and different styles,” says Ceres “Since it’s kind of just me and not a team I feel like it’s really helped me shape my voice and what I like creatively.”  Ceres’s focus has been on his senior thesis film “Adult League.” The making of this film started last semester he is finishing up pre-production and is set to begin filming this March “This is definitely the most personal film I’ve ever made and I’m definitely trying to push myself to make more personal projects.” location or challenge.” – Raymond Ceres ’25 so I really feel like I can tell this story… Ever since I got into filmmaking I knew that I wanted to make a bowling film So this project has just been in my head for so many years and I feel ready now to make it because of all the experiences that I’ve had so far,” he continues Ceres is excited to be bringing people he has previously worked with both at Muhlenberg and in Prague to collaborate on this project He also spent a lot of time last semester travelling to the colleges of those he met in Prague to work on their films “I just love asking people about their process and how they think of the script and how they think of the character… The times I’ve auditioned people you’re looking for someone who’s gonna bring something new to the role that you maybe didn’t see when you wrote it.” says Ceres “It’s easier to collaborate once you understand each other’s process,” adds Ceres “I try to not have it all planned out in my head because you’re working with a team of people and you want everyone to be invested in the project and feel like they can contribute… I want the input of collaborators because that’s gonna evolve the project Everyone’s input creates a greater good so I feel like the biggest thing is just trust in your collaborators.”  Although Ceres is now a highly experienced filmmaker he expressed his excitement to keep working on new projects and learning about himself as an artist in the process “I definitely want to make films that I haven’t seen before I just try to find original stories and ways to tell those stories Whether I’m drawn to a story because I personally connect to it or I think it would be challenging and help me grow.” “When I started making films,” explains Ceres “I was hesitant to even call myself a filmmaker because I just didn’t have confidence in it I feel like I’m at a point where I would say Samantha Tempkin '25 is a theatre and media & communication double major she served as an assistant editor for News and a lead editor for Arts & Culture Thank you for Celebrating 35 Years of Leadership We are immensely grateful to the friends and colleagues who gathered with us at Pier Sixty we honored 35 years of advocacy and action setting bold new climate goals for our future We are thrilled to announce that we exceeded our fundraising target of $1 million and we are excited to share some photo and video highlights with you First White House National Climate Advisor and former U.S With Thanks to Our Generous Host Committee and sponsors please visit the digital event journal Ceres is a nonprofit advocacy organization working 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