Neil deGrasse Tyson: What Is The Bright Spot on Ceres?

A fan asks astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, "What do you think the bright spot on Ceres is?" Before Neil ventures a guess, he recaps for comedian Chuck Nice what we do know about Ceres. Find out why Ceres is round, and what the differences are between Pluto and Ceres. Neil tells Chuck how Ceres was discovered and named. Finally, Neil takes his best guess at what might be causing the bright spot.


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Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up!

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[ryanbandi]

"A bright spot on Ceres....I have no idea" XD

[JaxxonStudios]

I like watching the woman in behind the glass react to the conversations. Makes me laugh watching her.

[freebatmaneveryone]

It's obviously an alien holding a mirror, that's what the History Channel "Aliens" guy would say :P

[ozdergekko]

The way Chuck pronounced "Ceres" is the correct one, btw.

[dines]

someone said that the dark side of Ceres also have bright spots...

[ExequielQuatroque]

please upload longer videos!! or the entire transmition!! I admire you Neil!! You Rock!

[Skkorm]

The best part of this video is watching the chick's face in the backround

[awesomename]

Wow you guys've been doing this together for a while happy to see.

[AlphaBetaDeltaGamma]

look, I'm not saying it's aliens



so I'm not gonna say it's aliens

[xxACIDVIRUSxx]

I thought it also had reflecting lights on the dark side too, how does that happen?

[TheRationalChannel]

The bright spot is John Cena! *Theme song*

[homerdickens]

so why does it glow even on dusk times?

[PantiMan]

Wonder if Ceres gets a lot of reflected light from the belt? Like we do from the moon. It would make a bit more sense considering the lights reflect pretty brightly even on the darkside.

[harryrambler]

A pair of studies published in the respected science journal NATURE suggested that the phenomenon is caused by light reflected off salt or mineral ice.

"The global nature of Ceres bright spots suggests has a subsurface layer
that contains briny water ice, " said Andreas Nathues at the Max Plank
Institute for Solar Research, Göttingen, Germany.

[nastynate]

It could also be a mix of elements causing some sort of illumination

[Oborowatabinostk]

My favorite part of the show is the woman's disembodied head floating in the background, great effects!

[SarthorS]

So you're saying it's frosting?

[Pyrolonn]

It isn't ice, since ice would sublimate in the airless surface of Ceres. Instead it is precipitated salts, which also show up very brightly. Ceres likely has brine in its mantle and occasionally some is expelled from impacts. The water evaporates to the void of space leaving behind the salts.

[christopherzarcone]

I think it could be a large vein of some highly purified metal, like silver or aluminum

[sameerassyrian]

I was more focused on that girl from that window 😂😂