Summary:
- The largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, called Ceres, was once a dwarf planet that may have had the potential to support life.
- Ceres is a rocky, icy world that is about 590 miles (950 km) in diameter, and it is believed to have an ocean beneath its surface, which could have provided a habitable environment for microbial life.
- Researchers have found evidence of organic compounds and water ice on the surface of Ceres, suggesting that it may have had the necessary ingredients for life to develop in the past, though no signs of life have been detected so far.