Enceladus jets may be linked to liquid water
Posted: Thu, Nov 27, 2008, 11:31 AM ET (1631 GMT)
Jets of dust and gas ejected from the Saturnian moon Enceladus may be generated by liquid water below the moon's icy surface, a finding that has astrobiological implications. Scientists used data from two Cassini flybys of Enceladus in 2005 and 2007 to measure the density of waver vapor in plumes emanating from the surface, finding that the plumes were nearly twice as dense in 2007 than two years earlier. That discovery contradicts a leading explanation for the plumes, where tidal forces from Saturn create new vents; Enceladus was farther from Saturn in 2007 and hence the tidal forces were weaker. The observations do support an alternative model for the plumes, where the vents channel water vapor from a warm source, most likely liquid water, below the surface. The existence of liquid water would mean that Enceladus would have all the key ingredients needed to support life.
Jets of dust and gas ejected from the Saturnian moon Enceladus may be generated by liquid water below the moon's icy surface, a finding that has astrobiological implications. Scientists used data from two Cassini flybys of Enceladus in 2005 and 2007 to measure the density of waver vapor in plumes emanating from the surface, finding that the plumes were nearly twice as dense in 2007 than two years earlier. That discovery contradicts a leading explanation for the plumes, where tidal forces from Saturn create new vents; Enceladus was farther from Saturn in 2007 and hence the tidal forces were weaker. The observations do support an alternative model for the plumes, where the vents channel water vapor from a warm source, most likely liquid water, below the surface. The existence of liquid water would mean that Enceladus would have all the key ingredients needed to support life.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Space Force selects companies to develop space-based interceptor prototypes
Posted: Sun, Nov 30 8:40 AM ET (1340 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Monday, December 1
Spaceport Cornwall shortlisted as testing location
BBC — 5:57 am ET (1057 GMT) 'We’d love to be in India': Elon Musk makes the case for Starlink’s rural connectivity mission
Business Today — 5:57 am ET (1057 GMT) Russia’s War Drones Still Using Starlink Despite Pentagon Crackdown
United24 Media — 5:56 am ET (1056 GMT) On Space Command: Springs focuses on the mission, not politics
Colorado Springs Gazette — 5:54 am ET (1054 GMT) China's first space documentary screened in Bulgaria
Xinhua — 5:52 am ET (1052 GMT) |
