⁍ Scientists say Ceres is an ‘ocean world’ with a big reservoir of salty water under its frigid surface.

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⁍ Findings raise interest in this dwarf planet as a possible outpost for life.

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⁍ Scientists want to assess whether Ceres was ever habitable by microbial life.

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– Ceres, the dwarf planet in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, may hold the key to unlocking the mysteries of our solar system. Scientists say they’ve discovered a vast reservoir of salty water 25 miles below the surface of the dwarf planet, raising the possibility that life could exist there, Reuters reports. “There is major interest at this stage, in the habitability potential of the deep brine reservoir, especially considering it is cold and getting quite rich in salts,” says planetary scientist Julie Castillo of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, “in the habitability potential of the deep brine reservoir, especially considering it is cold and getting quite rich in salts.” The presence of the brine reservoir was discovered by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, which visited Ceres in March for the first time. Ceres is the first object in the asteroid belt to be discovered by a spacecraft. It is the second largest planet in the solar system after Pluto, and the first to be discovered by a small extraterrestrial body. Other planets in the solar system are believed to have oceans, including Jupiter’s moon Europa, Saturn’s moon Enceladus, Neptune’s moon Triton, and the dwarf planet Pluto.