APOD: Unusual Mountain Ahuna Mons on Ceres... (2019 Jun 16)

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APOD: Unusual Mountain Ahuna Mons on Ceres... (2019 Jun 16)

Post by APOD Robot » Sun Jun 16, 2019 4:07 am

Image Unusual Mountain Ahuna Mons on Asteroid Ceres

Explanation: What created this unusual mountain? There is a new theory. Ahuna Mons is the largest mountain on the largest known asteroid in our Solar System, Ceres, which orbits our Sun in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Ahuna Mons, though, is like nothing that humanity has ever seen before. For one thing, its slopes are garnished not with old craters but young vertical streaks. The new hypothesis, based on numerous gravity measurements, holds that a bubble of mud rose from deep within the dwarf planet and pushed through the icy surface at a weak point rich in reflective salt -- and then froze. The bright streaks are thought to be similar to other recently surfaced material such as visible in Ceres' famous bright spots. The featured double-height digital image was constructed from surface maps taken of Ceres in 2016 by the robotic Dawn mission. Successfully completing its mission in 2018, Dawn continues to orbit Ceres even though it has exhausted the fuel needed to keep its antennas pointed toward Earth.

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Re: APOD: Unusual Mountain Ahuna Mons on Ceres... (2019 Jun 16)

Post by AVAO » Sun Jun 16, 2019 6:41 am

Interesting picture.

But I think it would be more helpful to display the effective height without image distortion, although this is less impressive...
Source: https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20349
Source: https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19574

Interestingly enough, similar volcanoes with sodium carbonateite lava are also found on earth. Under https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OSwmE9NoWA you can find a video from the top of the Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano with the typical white-beige color of the oxidized sodium carbonate. Recently solidified lava has a dark color that quickly turns into a light beige. The Natrokarbonatit lava (Na2CO3) of this volcano with a temperature between 491 ° C and up to 590 ° C compared to the lava of other volcanoes, a comparatively low temperature, but comes from the Earth's mantle.
Last edited by AVAO on Sun Jun 16, 2019 9:34 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: APOD: Unusual Mountain Ahuna Mons on Ceres... (2019 Jun 16)

Post by Ann » Sun Jun 16, 2019 8:52 am

AVAO wrote: Sun Jun 16, 2019 6:41 am Interesting picture.

But I think it would be more helpful to display the effective height without image distortion, although this is less impressive...
Source: https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19574
Source: https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20349

Interestingly enough, similar volcanoes with sodium carbonateite lava are also found on earth. Under https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OSwmE9NoWA you can find a video from the top of the Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano with the typical white-beige color of the oxidized sodium carbonate. Recently solidified lava has a dark color that quickly turns into a light beige. The Natrokarbonatit lava (Na2CO3) of this volcano with a temperature between 491 ° C and up to 590 ° C compared to the lava of other volcanoes, a comparatively low temperature, but comes from the Earth's mantle.
Fascinating, Jack! Your pictures of Ceres look a lot more interesting than the others that I have seen of Ceres on the net.

I also like your reference to the Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano in Africa. I once saw a BBC documentary of wildebeest migration, and here it was pointed out that the wildebeest bring their calves to graze at the foot of the Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano, because the grass is so nutritious there, due to the white ash from the volcano.
Wikipedia wrote:

The carbonatite ash spread over the surrounding grasslands leads to a uniquely succulent, enriched pasture. This makes the area a vital stage on the annual wildebeest migration, where it becomes the nursery for the birth of several thousand calves.
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Re: APOD: Unusual Mountain Ahuna Mons on Ceres... (2019 Jun 16)

Post by AVAO » Sun Jun 16, 2019 9:50 am

ThanX Ann

Interesting point. But where are the wildebeests on Ceres ?-)

Okey, with -106 degrees, it is a little cold. But where does the heat come from to make the soda-carbonate liquid?
Maybe it was different there earlier. So I'm sure, we will find a couple of wildebeest bones on the next expedition :-)

Jack

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Re: APOD: Unusual Mountain Ahuna Mons on Ceres... (2019 Jun 16)

Post by khh » Sun Jun 16, 2019 10:03 am

How tall is it?

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Re: APOD: Unusual Mountain Ahuna Mons on Ceres... (2019 Jun 16)

Post by De58te » Sun Jun 16, 2019 10:14 am

AVAO wrote: Sun Jun 16, 2019 9:50 am ThanX Ann

Interesting point. But where are the wildebeests on Ceres ?-)

Okey, with -106 degrees, it is a little cold. But where does the heat come from to make the soda-carbonate liquid?
Maybe it was different there earlier. So I'm sure, we will find a couple of wildebeest bones on the next expedition :-)

Jack
Maybe I am wrong but I remember reading that there is a large impact crater at the antipode of Ahuna Mons. Jumping to conclusions I assume the heat came from an asteroid impact combined with a shock wave that went straight through Ceres and 'popped' out the other side. My question is how do you measure the height of Ahuna Mons? Looking at today's picture it looks like the shortest height is at the centre even though the peak looks lower on the left side, the base is in a lower valley. So maybe the heights are nearly the same. However on the far right, not only is the peak the highest, but the base seems to plunge down well down below the ground level. I could maybe imagine that descends maybe another 75% of it's height that we see in the centre. That is say if I was an astronaut there and going out tobogganing, I'd choose to slide down the centre slope and avoide sliding on the slope on the right.

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Re: APOD: Unusual Mountain Ahuna Mons on Ceres... (2019 Jun 16)

Post by heehaw » Sun Jun 16, 2019 11:09 am

Could have made it even more exciting by making it not double height but 10 X height! Or 100 X height! Or colorized it. Or have it sing.

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Re: APOD: Unusual Mountain Ahuna Mons on Ceres... (2019 Jun 16)

Post by orin stepanek » Sun Jun 16, 2019 12:18 pm

Is Ceres still an asteroid? I thought it was upgraded to a dwarf planet! :roll:
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Re: APOD: Unusual Mountain Ahuna Mons on Ceres... (2019 Jun 16)

Post by sillyworm 2 » Sun Jun 16, 2019 12:46 pm

Not a word about the odd hexagonal highlighted object?

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Re: APOD: Unusual Mountain Ahuna Mons on Ceres... (2019 Jun 16)

Post by bystander » Sun Jun 16, 2019 2:13 pm

Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk.
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Re: APOD: Unusual Mountain Ahuna Mons on Ceres... (2019 Jun 16)

Post by neufer » Sun Jun 16, 2019 3:49 pm

De58te wrote: Sun Jun 16, 2019 10:14 am
I remember reading that there is a large impact crater at the antipode of Ahuna Mons. Jumping to conclusions I assume the heat came from an asteroid impact combined with a shock wave that went straight through Ceres and 'popped' out the other side. My question is how do you measure the height of Ahuna Mons?
orin stepanek wrote: Sun Jun 16, 2019 12:18 pm
Is Ceres still an asteroid? I thought it was upgraded to a dwarf planet! :roll:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahuna_Mons wrote:
<<Ahuna Mons (4 km high: 10.46°S 315.8°) is the largest mountain on the dwarf planet and asteroid Ceres. It is not an impact feature, and it appears to be the only mountain of its kind on Ceres. Bright streaks run top to bottom on its slopes; these streaks are thought to be salt, similar to the better known Cererian bright spots, and likely resulted from cryovolcanic activity from Ceres's interior. In June 2019, scientists reported that Ahuna Mons may have been formed by a plume of mud ejected from deep within the planet.

Ahuna Mons is roughly antipodal to the largest impact basin on Ceres, 280 km diameter Kerwan. Seismic energy from the Kerwan-forming impact may have been focused on the opposite side of Ceres, fracturing the outer layers of the area and facilitating the movement of high viscosity cryovolcanic magma (consisting of muddy water ice softened by its content of salts) that was then extruded onto the surface. Crater counts suggest that formation of the mountain continued into the last several hundred million years.>>
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dantu_(crater) wrote:
Dantu is a large [124.62 km: 24.21°N 137.43°E] crater on Ceres. It is rimmed by a number of minor faculae.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerwan_(crater) wrote:
<<Kerwan is the largest confirmed crater and geological feature on Ceres. It was discovered on February 19, 2015 from Dawn images as it approached Ceres. The crater is distinctly shallow for its size, and lacks a central peak. A central peak might have been destroyed by a 15-kilometer-wide crater at the center of Kerwan. The crater is likely to be old relative to the rest of Ceres's surface, as it is overlapped by nearly every other feature in the area.>>
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Re: APOD: Unusual Mountain Ahuna Mons on Ceres... (2019 Jun 16)

Post by Leon1949Green » Sun Jun 16, 2019 5:58 pm

So, why didn't APOD use this as its 24th birthday candle?!?

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Re: APOD: Unusual Mountain Ahuna Mons on Ceres... (2019 Jun 16)

Post by Starlooker » Sun Jun 16, 2019 6:39 pm

NASA discovered a blacmange on Ceres? Now we know...

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Re: APOD: Unusual Mountain Ahuna Mons on Ceres... (2019 Jun 16)

Post by AVAO » Sun Jun 16, 2019 7:27 pm

sillyworm 2 wrote: Sun Jun 16, 2019 12:46 pm Not a word about the odd hexagonal highlighted object?
Good question...

Normally, these patterns exist only at the poles of the planets. However, I think that it is unlikely that the hexagon surrounded by the red is the former pole territory...
The north pole of Saturn (Cassini probe)

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Re: APOD: Unusual Mountain Ahuna Mons on Ceres... (2019 Jun 16)

Post by neufer » Sun Jun 16, 2019 9:48 pm

sillyworm 2 wrote: Sun Jun 16, 2019 12:46 pm
Not a word about the odd hexagonal highlighted object?
Art Neuendorffer

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Re: APOD: Unusual Mountain Ahuna Mons on Ceres... (2019 Jun 16)

Post by sillyworm 2 » Sun Jun 16, 2019 10:44 pm

Thanks neufer.. learned something new once again.

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Re: APOD: Unusual Mountain Ahuna Mons on Ceres... (2019 Jun 16)

Post by khh » Mon Jun 17, 2019 3:23 am

Looks like Devils Tower in Wyoming.

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Re: APOD: Unusual Mountain Ahuna Mons on Ceres... (2019 Jun 16)

Post by neufer » Mon Jun 17, 2019 10:38 am

khh wrote: Mon Jun 17, 2019 3:23 am
Looks like Devils Tower in Wyoming.
  • Could it be made of mashed potatoes then :?:
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Re: APOD: Unusual Mountain Ahuna Mons on Ceres... (2019 Jun 16)

Post by marcm » Mon Jun 17, 2019 5:43 pm

Does anyone know the name of the crater immediately adjacent to Ahuna Mons? I've been unable to find it.

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Re: APOD: Unusual Mountain Ahuna Mons on Ceres... (2019 Jun 16)

Post by neufer » Mon Jun 17, 2019 9:48 pm

marcm wrote: Mon Jun 17, 2019 5:43 pm
Does anyone know the name of the crater immediately adjacent to Ahuna Mons? I've been unable to find it.
It probably hasn't been officially named yet.

A muddy, icy volcano
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Re: APOD: Unusual Mountain Ahuna Mons on Ceres... (2019 Jun 16)

Post by TheZuke! » Wed Jun 19, 2019 1:53 pm

Also known as, The Big Ahuna?
Grinning, ducking, and running.

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Re: APOD: Unusual Mountain Ahuna Mons on Ceres... (2019 Jun 16)

Post by neufer » Wed Jun 19, 2019 4:39 pm

TheZuke! wrote: Wed Jun 19, 2019 1:53 pm
Also known as, The Big Ahuna?
Grinning, ducking, and running.
Check out the big brain on TheZuke!
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