Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 21, 2025

Exfoliation of Egyptian Blue and Han Blue, Two Alkali Earth Copper Silicate-based Pigments
Published on: April 24, 2014
Dwarf planet (1) Ceres surface bluing due to high porosity resulting from sublimation
Stefan E Schröder1, Olivier Poch2, Marco Ferrari3
1Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Berlin, 12489, Germany. stefanus.schroeder@dlr.de.
Abstract:
The Dawn mission found that the dominant colour variation on the surface of dwarf planet Ceres is a change of the visible spectral slope, where fresh impact craters are surrounded by blue (negative spectral-sloped) ejecta. The origin of this colour variation is still a mystery. Here we investigate a scenario in which an impact mixes the phyllosilicates present on the surface of Ceres with the water ice just below. In our experiment, Ceres analogue material is suspended in liquid water to create intimately mixed ice particles, which are sublimated under conditions approximating those on Ceres. The sublimation residue has a highly porous, foam-like structure made of phyllosilicates that scattered light in similar blue fashion as the Ceres surface. Our experiment provides a mechanism for the blue colour of fresh craters that can naturally emerge from the Ceres environment.
Related Concept Videos
Schwarzschild Radius and Event Horizon
The minimum speed required to launch a projectile from the surface of an object to which it is gravitationally bound so that it eventually escapes the object’s gravitational field is called the escape velocity. The escape velocity is independent of the mass of the object. Merging the idea of escape...
Phase Transitions: Sublimation and Deposition
Sublimation
States of Water
Water freezes when the intermolecular forces are greater than the kinetic energy. Unlike most other substances, water is less dense in its solid state than in its liquid state. This is because each water molecule can form...
Sulfur Assimilation

