Water ice has been confirmed at poles of the dwarf planet Ceres.

The ice is buried in craters around the planet's darkest regions, which are perpetually shielded from the sun.

They confirm that Ceres contains ice in its crust, which could point to a subsurface ocean and the possibility of life.

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Ceres is only the third planetary body, after the Moon and Mercury, where water ice has been found. Craters at Ceres' poles (pictured) are permanently engulfed in darkness, and these spots are cold enough to have been collecting ice over billions of years

STRANGE WORLD OF CERES Ceres is 590 miles (950 km) across and was discovered in 1801. It is the closest dwarf planet to the sun and is located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, making it the only dwarf planet in the inner solar system. Ceres is the smallest of the bodies currently classified as a 'dwarf planet'. It lies less than three times as far as Earth from the sun - close enough to feel the warmth of the star, allowing ice to melt and reform. Nasa's Dawn spacecraft made its way to Ceres after leaving the asteroid Vesta in 2012. There is high interest in the mission because Ceres is seen as being a record of the early solar system. Advertisement

Ceres is only the third planetary body, after the moon and Mercury, where water ice has been found in permanently shadowed areas.

Craters at Ceres' poles are permanently engulfed in darkness, and these spots are cold enough to have been collecting ice over billions of years.

'The icy craters we found show that there is a lot of ice present in the crust of Ceres,' says lead researcher Dr Thomas Platz.

'Now we are investigating whether there could be an ocean under its surface.'

'If this subsurface ocean exists, it is technically possible that it could support life.'

'But personally, I'm skeptical.'

The icy craters found by Dr Platz's team built up because of the way the dwarf planet is tilted.

Ceres's poles never receive direct sunlight.

Even the indirect sunlight that reaches the poles never heats it up to more than minus 151 degrees Celsius (minus 240 degrees Fahrenheit), making both the poles a 'cold trap'.

'We knew that Ceres was similar to the moon and Mercury with impact craters near the darkened poles,' Dr Platz told MailOnline.

'Shadows are always a good place to look for ice.'

About one out of every 1,000 water molecules generated on the surface of Ceres will end up in a cold trap over the course of one of Ceres's years, which last 1,682 Earth days.

Craters at Ceres' poles are permanently engulfed in darkness, and these spots are cold enough to have been collecting ice over billions of years. In this graphic, the blue regions show the darkened craters where the ice has formed

Even the indirect sunlight that reaches the poles never heats it up to more than minus 151 degrees Celsius (minus 240 degrees Fahrenheit), making both the poles a 'cold trap'. This graphic shows another angle of the cold traps, in blue, where ice forms

Animation shows how the dwarf planet Ceres spins, casting its poles in permanent darkness

Water had previously been found on Ceres by Nasa's Dawn spacecraft, which has been orbiting the planetary body since March last year.

Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Göttingen, Germany, found the ice by processed images taken by Dawn's state-of-the-art Framing camera.

They focused their search on the craters in the northern polar region of Ceres, which can reach temperatures of minus 200 degrees Celsius (-333 degrees Fahrenheit).

The team spotted areas of perpetual shadow in more than 600 craters dotted over Ceres (artist's impression), ten of which exhibit bright features. A detailed radiation analysis of the darkened areas confirms that ice is present in these craters

Image: artists impression of the crust makeup of Ceres, including the slushy ice ocean under its crust, which may host alien life

The team spotted areas of perpetual shadow in more than 600 craters.

A detailed radiation analysis of the darkened areas confirms that ice is present in these craters.

Ceres is 590 miles (950 km) across and was discovered in 1801.

It is the closest dwarf planet to the sun and is located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, making it the only dwarf planet in the inner solar system.

Ceres is the smallest of the bodies currently classified as a 'dwarf planet'.

It lies less than three times as far as Earth from the sun - close enough to feel the warmth of the star, allowing ice to melt and reform.

Shadow maps created by the team show craters that never see sunlight, shown here in black, which hold the perfect conditions for the accumulation of water ice

This image shows how Ceres's ocean may feed up into icy volcanoes on the dwarf planet's surface. The ice may then spray out onto Ceres's surface

There is high interest in Ceres because it is seen as being a record of the early solar system.

The researchers hope that the relatively small number of icy dark spots on Ceres can provide insight into how water collects on the dwarf planet.

The team also hope to look further into how the ice is dispersed across the surface, which they predict is through asteroid impacts.