# What are the lights on Ceres? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 5, 2015, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lights-on-ceres/714270 "2015-03-05T12:54:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lights-on-ceres/714270/1 "2015-03-05T12:54:52Z")
Apologies if this has already been discussed, couldn’t find any prior mention of this phenomenon. As you may be aware, the NASA spacecraft Dawn has performed a flyby of the dwarf planet [Ceres](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nasa-probe-closes-in-on-ceres-sees-unusual-lights/) and spotted some unusual lights. Now I know what I [hope the cause is](http://9thcivic.com/gallery/albums/post/history_channel_alien_guy_meme_generator_aliens_98f63b.jpg) but that’s probably unlikely. What are the likeliest explanations for these so far unexplained lights? Have we found anything similar elsewhere in the solar system (other than on Earth, of course)? ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lights-on-ceres/714270/2 "2015-03-05T13:13:47Z")
No flyby yet, the probe is still traveling towards Ceres and won’t reach it till tomorrow. Are they lights though?, couldn’t it be white surfaces reflecting light?, It’s true that in some images they seem to be shining in zones of Ceres that are in the shadows, but may be they are mountains or something that it’s higher than the surrounding area and thus still receiving light?, or some other explanation?. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lights-on-ceres/714270/3 "2015-03-05T13:19:51Z")
There’s an interesting article [here](http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/8-possible-explanations-for-those-bright-spots-on-dwarf-planet-ceres/) on what they might be. Briefly: 1. A salt flat. 2. Shiny metals. 3. Exposed ice. 4. Water vapor. 5. Ice volcanoes. 6. Aliens’ solar concentrators. 7. Genetically engineered colonists from another civilization. 8. It’s a spacecraft. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lights-on-ceres/714270/4 "2015-03-05T13:42:01Z")
Oh please be one of the last three! [Obligatory xkcd link](http://xkcd.com/1476/). ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lights-on-ceres/714270/5 "2015-03-05T13:54:48Z")
That’s no [del]moon[/del] asteroid. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lights-on-ceres/714270/6 "2015-03-05T14:08:41Z")
Apparently there is life on [Ceres](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceres,_Santa_Fe)… ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lights-on-ceres/714270/7 "2015-03-05T16:23:59Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > Apparently there is life on [Ceres](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceres,_Santa_Fe)… Ceresly? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lights-on-ceres/714270/8 "2015-03-05T16:27:14Z")
Obviously, if there is life there you can’t call it a dwarf planet any more. It becomes a world, just like Earth. From now on be sure to make all references to “the world Ceres.” ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lights-on-ceres/714270/9 "2015-03-05T16:55:18Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > Ceresly? Y so Ceres? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lights-on-ceres/714270/10 "2015-03-05T17:56:26Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > No flyby yet, the probe is still traveling towards Ceres and won’t reach it till tomorrow. Great cliffhanger for a serial. Serial / cereal get it? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lights-on-ceres/714270/11 "2015-03-05T18:05:18Z")
It’s a “Vacancy” sign. Satan put it there over two thousand years ago, in an unsuccessful attempt to trick Joseph and Mary into having their baby off-planet, so he wouldn’t have jurisdiction. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lights-on-ceres/714270/12 "2015-03-05T22:07:02Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Obviously, if there is life there you can’t call it a dwarf planet any more. It becomes a world, just like Earth. From now on be sure to make all references to “the world Ceres.” Not so. No one should discuss Ceres in any way until its inhabitants tell us how they prefer to be described. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lights-on-ceres/714270/13 "2015-03-05T22:11:22Z")
> [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](#): > > Not so. No one should discuss Ceres in any way until its inhabitants tell us how they prefer to be described. For instance, if they were all dwarfs, they might object and insist their world be call a “little planet” instead of the insensitive “dwarf planet”. (For the love of Cthulhu, don’t call it a “midget planet!”) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lights-on-ceres/714270/14 "2015-03-06T02:19:10Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > Apparently there is life on [Ceres](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceres,_Santa_Fe)… A whole series of Ceres. > [@Wikipedia disambiguation page](#): > > **United States** [edit] > > ``` > * Ceres, California > * Ceres Flat, California > * Ceres, Georgia > * Ceres, Iowa. a community in Clayton County > * Ceres, New York > * Ceres, Oklahoma, a community in Noble County > * Ceres, Virginia > * Ceres, Washington, a community in Lewis County > * Ceres, West Virginia > * Ceres Township, McKean County, Pennsylvania > > ``` > > **Other countries** [edit] > > ``` > * Ceres, Santa Fe, Argentina > * Ceres, Victoria, Australia > * Ceres, Goiás, Brazil > * Ceres, Piedmont, Italy > * Ceres, Fife, Scotland > * Ceres, Western Cape, South Africa > * Ceres Nunataks, Antarctica > * Ceres Microregion, in north-central Goiás state, Brazil > > ``` ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lights-on-ceres/714270/15 "2015-03-06T13:08:15Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Great cliffhanger for a serial. Serial / cereal get it? Thrilling ![Ba dum tish!](http://instantrimshot.com/index.php?sound=rimshot&play=true) ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lights-on-ceres/714270/16 "2015-03-06T17:35:54Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Obviously, if there is life there you can’t call it a dwarf planet any more. It becomes a world, just like Earth. From now on be sure to make all references to “the world Ceres.” Perhaps the inhabitants are some sort of batlike creatures. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lights-on-ceres/714270/17 "2015-03-06T18:37:28Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > Perhaps the inhabitants are some sort of batlike creatures. It might be too dangerous to visit them, then. We wouldn’t want any astronauts to be victims of a cereal killer. ---
**Author:** ![JimSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@JimSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimSC)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lights-on-ceres/714270/18 "2015-03-06T18:59:03Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > Perhaps the inhabitants are some sort of batlike creatures. Maybe. But do they have balls? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lights-on-ceres/714270/19 "2015-03-06T19:52:49Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > From now on be sure to make all references to “the world Ceres.” I once gave a jury award to an sf story of that name. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lights-on-ceres/714270/20 "2015-03-06T22:29:11Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > Perhaps the inhabitants are some sort of batlike creatures. > [@JimSC](#): > > Maybe. But do they have balls? What do you base all this on? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-lights-on-ceres/714270.md?page=2)