> We still don’t know exactly what these bright spots are, but the cracks may be a clue. We know there’s lots of water ice inside Ceres, and these spots might be ice that has been squeezed out. The water may in fact be salty; if the ice on the surface sublimated (turned into a gas) due to sunlight hitting it, then the salt would be a residue, like getting salt crystals on you when seawater evaporates after you swim in the ocean.<p>Future tourist attraction of the inner solar system? A kilometers-wide field of salt crystals glittering under the vacuum-hard sunlight, with no atmosphere to soften their brilliance, would be quite a sight in person.