NASA researchers have found that the dwarf planet Ceres may have had a lasting source of chemical energy to fuel habitability. The discovery suggests that Ceres could have supported single-celled lifeforms in its past.
The findings are based on data from NASA’s Dawn mission, which previously showed that Ceres’s surface is composed of salts left over from liquid percolating up from underground. Later analysis revealed an enormous reservoir of brine beneath the surface.
The presence of water and carbon molecules is crucial for microbial cells to survive. The new research builds thermal and chemical models of Ceres’s interior, suggesting that 2.5 billion years ago, a steady supply of hot water with dissolved gases could have emerged from metamorphosed rocks in the rocky core. This would provide a long-lasting source of chemical energy.
While there is no evidence that microorganisms ever existed on Ceres, the finding supports theories about the dwarf planet’s potential for habitability. The study suggests that Ceres had conditions suitable for life between 2.5 billion and 4 billion years ago, when its rocky core reached peak temperature.
The research has implications for water-rich objects throughout the outer solar system. Other icy moons and dwarf planets without significant internal heating could have also experienced a period of habitability in their past.
The discovery does not mean that Ceres had life but rather provides “food” available if life had ever arisen on the planet.
Source: https://phys.org/news/2025-08-ceres-energy-fuel-habitability.html