Recent studies suggest that Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, may harbor the building blocks of life beneath its surface. Scientists have discovered aliphatic hydrocarbons—organic molecules crucial to life—around Ertunet Crater on Ceres, leading researchers to believe that these compounds formed within the last 10 million years. This discovery highlights the possibility that Ceres’ subsurface ocean played a role in creating these life-enabling molecules.
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