The bright spots on Ceres are back

April 23rd is not here yet, but we're getting there, and Dawn is taking a closer look at Ceres.  And in very recently released images, the enigmatic, intriguing, and mysterious (all of which are synonyms for We Don't Know What They Are) bright spots have been seen again.  So the next question is:  how long will it take to figure out what they really are?

I'm going to hazard a speculation here.  The spots are ice.  (Wow, major speculation effort.)  What I'm expecting is that there is going to be some unique asteroidal geological process in that location that keeps the ice "fresh" and reflective, i.e., not covered by regolith -- another word for dust.

What that process might be -- I have no clue.  But I don't think that they are vapor, like a gas jet, because they are too immobile and there has been not a mention of any kind of Cerean atmosphere with a little tenuous water vapor.

I could be very, very wrong.  But I'd place a modest wager on ice.

Ceres' bright spots come back into view

Recent image 
Watch the animation below the single frame image to locate them (right side of the disk)