In recent times Ceres has been an exciting topic in science circles in recent times, and now once again it has shown to be more than just a rock.
NASA has revealed that they have discovered the building blocks of life on Ceres – carbon based compounds similar to those that would have been on the early Earth. The significance of the discovery is incredible, as it suggests our early solar system may have been ripe with the chemicals needed for life.
“The discovery indicates that the starting material in the solar system contained the essential elements, or the building blocks, for life,” said mission lead scientist Christopher Russell.
The discovered materials were found in a 31 mile wide crater, however scientists believe they were not deposited on the planet by a comet or asteroid, which even suggests it may have been possible for Ceres itself to have supported life at one time.
