CERES PLANET "The World of the Sea"

On the night of August 28, 2020, the dwarf planet "Ceres Planet" and the asteroid Masaria will oppose the Sun. Therefore, observers from Earth can see the brightest shining Ceres Planet and Massalia in the night sky. Today I would like to take a moment to talk about these rare space objects.

Ceres Planet "The World of the Sea"

Ceres Planet, formerly considered an asteroid, is now classified as a dwarf planet. Named after the Roman goddess of agriculture, it was discovered in 1801 by the Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi.

Ceres Planet, 950 kilometers in diameter, is the largest celestial body in the asteroid belt. The asteroid belt is the region between Mars and Jupiter, where the solar system contains most of the asteroids. However, it is still much smaller than the moon's diameter of 3,472 km.

Recently, scientists have made interesting discoveries. Ceres Planet has water under its surface! With the help of NASA's Dawn unmanned spacecraft, scientists have investigated some mysteriously bright areas of the planet's occa crater. We have discovered that this area ((named) (Cerealia) (Facula) (and) (Vinalia) (Faculae)) is a very recently formed salt deposit when the groundwater reaches its surface. "Very recent" means about a million years ago. This is a fairly short period by geological standards.

The salt deposits beneath the surface of the dwarf planets are probably the remnants of the ancient ocean. This fact means that Ceres may have had habitable conditions. And perhaps life is there now. Over the next decade, scientists want to send another spacecraft to take samples from the surface of the planet. This mission will help reveal more secrets about this mysterious object.

On August 28, Ceres Planet will hit the sun and give you a chance to see it with your own eyes. That night, the dwarf planets are closest to Earth, shining at magnitude 7.7 in Aquarius in the south. It reaches its peak visible after 1 am local time and can be seen through binoculars and small telescopes.

The easiest way to find Ceres Planet in the sky above is to use the Star Walk 2 app. Simply type "Celes" in the search field and the exact location will be displayed on the screen.

Massalia "Asteroid Named after the City"

Another object that will hit on August 28 is the asteroid Massalia in the asteroid belt. Discovered on September 19, 1852 by the Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis. The next night, a French astronomer at Jean Chacornac at Marseille Observatory also discovered the asteroid. Chacornac was the first to announce his discovery, and the asteroid was named "Massalia," the old name for "Marseille."

On August 28, Massalia will reach its highest point in the sky at midnight local time. Like Ceres Planet, it shines in the constellation Aquarius, but shines in magnitude 9.4. Still, you can see Massalia with binoculars and a telescope. Use Star Walk 2 to find Masaria. Enter the name of the asteroid in the search field to see its location.

As you can see, small objects like dwarf planets and asteroids are attractive to study. By the way, I made an interesting video about dwarf planets for the Star Walk Kids project. While using the Star Walk Kids app, children interested in astronomy can explore the sky and educational about planets and stars.

Keep looking above the sky and observe the happy starry sky!

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