Bizarre Discoveries on Ceres and Pluto

Fascinating and exciting exploration of 2 strange worlds.

The planetoid/minor planet/dwarf planet (depending on which definition for ''planet'' is used) Pluto has the head of Pluto the Dog on its surface! I noticed this from Day 1, and I'm glad others noticed it, too (Is that Pluto the Dog on Pluto-abc.net.au). It's called the Heart informally, but the formal name is Tombaugh Regio. Unexpectedly, the surface is almost as varied as Mars, and there might be a liquid ocean under the surface.

Also, the axes of the 4 small companions, Nix, Hydra, Styx, and Kerberos, loosely called moons, to Pluto and Charon, which are a double KBO, are tipped sideways, a configuration that defies explanation. And they're all brighter and smaller than previously estimated. As well, their rotations are also tipped over, almost at 90° angles from what would be expected. “We have no idea what that means yet,” NASA lamented.

And on Ceres those mysterious bright spots are estimated to have an albedo of c. 40% and are postulated as being caused by ice and/or salts (epsom salt or sodium carbonate), but some people, like Hoagland, think they're cities. And then there's that solitary, mountain, which is said to be pyramid-shaped or conical, but is actually flat-topped like table mountains in BC and S. Africa.