The latest data from NASA’s Dawn mission proves the almost-planet has a vast repository of salty water hiding below its surface.

We now know that the bright spots are a result of salt crystallization on the surface, and these deposits are young — from within the last few million years.

The high-salt brine would evaporate in a few hundred years, but the crater itself is about 22 million years old.

Scientists know the salt deposits are younger because Ceres is frequently hit by smaller asteroids that would darken the reflective surfaces over time. .

The team identified two sources of salt deposits on Ceres.

That puddle cooled after a few million years, but the impact also produced fractures that extend deep into the surface.