Enceladus – Liquid water evidence?

26 March 2012, 20:12.

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft may have found evidence of liquid water reservoirs that erupt in Yellowstone-like geysers on Saturn’s moon Enceladus. The rare occurrence of liquid water so near the surface raises many new questions about this mysterious moon.

“We realize that this is a radical conclusion — that we may have evidence for liquid water within a body so small and so cold,” said Carolyn Porco, Cassini imaging team leader at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. “However, if we are right, we have significantly broadened the diversity of solar system environments where we might possibly have conditions suitable for living organisms.”

Icy fountains shoot out of Saturn’s moon Enceladus.

 

High-resolution Cassini images show icy jets and towering plumes ejecting huge quantities of particles at high speed. Scientists examined several models to explain the process. They ruled out the idea the particles are produced or blown off the moon’s surface by vapor created when warm water ice converts to a gas. Instead, scientists have found evidence for a much more exciting possibility. The jets might be erupting from near-surface pockets of liquid water above 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit), like cold versions of the Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone: illustration.

“We previously knew of at most three places where active volcanism exists: Jupiter’s moon Io, Earth, and possibly Neptune’s moon Triton. Cassini changed all that, making Enceladus the latest member of this very exclusive club, and one of the most exciting places in the solar system,” said John Spencer, Cassini scientist, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder.
“Other moons in the solar system [may] have liquid-water oceans covered by kilometers of icy crust,” said Andrew Ingersoll, imaging team member and atmospheric scientist at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. “What’s different here is that pockets of liquid water may be no more than tens of meters below the surface.”

“As Cassini approached Saturn, we discovered the Saturnian system is filled with oxygen atoms. At the time we had no idea where the oxygen was coming from,” said Candy Hansen, Cassini scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena. “Now we know Enceladus is spewing out water molecules, which break down into oxygen and hydrogen.”

 

Will we find a life form on Enceladus?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Leave a Reply

Random Articles

Flaring lights of Saturn F ring One of Saturn's rings is flaring and fading in a very strange fashion. When Voyager 1 visited the planet in 1980, the ring was faint, but it sparkled with bright spots. By the time the .

UFO hunters – Arizona lights On March 13th 1997 a very large number of unidentifiable flying objects were spotted in Arizona. They were arranged in a very orderly fashion, seemed to be orbiting or flying at very low speeds one next .

NEWS OF ALIEN PRESENCE STARTLES INDIA India was startled by four reports last week which appeared to confirm therumors of a large underground base staffed by extraterrestrials in the Ladakhregion of the Himalayas.In New Delhi, India's capital, a senior officer of .

Polls

What do you think will happen in 2012?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Follow us: