And the lack of water on the moon or Mars are because...?

http://science.nasa....2014/22jan_ceres/

Jan. 22, 2014: Scientists using the Herschel space observatory have made the first definitive detection of water vapor on the largest and roundest object in the asteroid belt, dwarf planet Ceres.

"This is the first time water vapor has been unequivocally detected on Ceres or any other object in the asteroid belt and provides proof that Ceres has an icy surface and an atmosphere," said Michael Küppers of ESA in Spain, lead author of a paper in the journal Nature.

[...]

For the last century, Ceres was known as the largest asteroid in our solar system. But in 2006, the International Astronomical Union, the governing organization responsible for naming planetary objects, reclassified Ceres as a dwarf planet because of its large size. It is roughly 590 miles (950 kilometers) in diameter. When it first was spotted in 1801, astronomers thought it was a planet orbiting between Mars and Jupiter. Later, other cosmic bodies with similar orbits were found, marking the discovery of our solar system's main belt of asteroids.

Scientists believe Ceres contains rock in its interior with a thick mantle of ice that, if melted, would amount to more fresh water than is present on all of Earth. The materials making up Ceres likely date from the first few million years of our solar system's existence and accumulated before the planets formed.

[...]

Neat.

Cheers,
Scott.

Post #385,629 by a6l6e6x 1/21/14 10:20:22 PM Reply	And the lack of water on the moon or Mars are because...? Alex ÂThere is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.Â -- Isaac Asimov
Post #385,630 by Another Scott 1/21/14 10:59:07 PM Reply	The gravity is too weak, and/or lack of a magnetic field or Gotta have something to protect the surface water from the solar wind once it is there. Gravity needs to be strong enough and the temperature needs to be in the right range, too. Having a reasonably thick atmosphere can help. E.g. deep craters on the moon that aren't exposed to the solar wind have ice - http://www.nrl.navy.mil/clementine2/ http://en.wikipedia....rial_liquid_water IOW, God's will. ;-) Cheers, Scott.
Post #385,691 by Another Scott 1/22/14 10:42:54 PM Reply	And today: NASA says water detected on Ceres http://science.nasa....2014/22jan_ceres/ Jan. 22, 2014: Scientists using the Herschel space observatory have made the first definitive detection of water vapor on the largest and roundest object in the asteroid belt, dwarf planet Ceres. "This is the first time water vapor has been unequivocally detected on Ceres or any other object in the asteroid belt and provides proof that Ceres has an icy surface and an atmosphere," said Michael Küppers of ESA in Spain, lead author of a paper in the journal Nature. [...] For the last century, Ceres was known as the largest asteroid in our solar system. But in 2006, the International Astronomical Union, the governing organization responsible for naming planetary objects, reclassified Ceres as a dwarf planet because of its large size. It is roughly 590 miles (950 kilometers) in diameter. When it first was spotted in 1801, astronomers thought it was a planet orbiting between Mars and Jupiter. Later, other cosmic bodies with similar orbits were found, marking the discovery of our solar system's main belt of asteroids. Scientists believe Ceres contains rock in its interior with a thick mantle of ice that, if melted, would amount to more fresh water than is present on all of Earth. The materials making up Ceres likely date from the first few million years of our solar system's existence and accumulated before the planets formed. [...] Neat. Cheers, Scott.

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