Astronomers find vast underground ocean under Saturn's Death Star
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronomers have found the best evidence yet of a vast, young ocean beneath the icy exterior of Saturn’s Death Star lookalike mini moon.
The French-led team analyzed changes in Mimas’ orbit and rotation and reported Wednesday that a hidden ocean 12 to 18 miles (20 to 30 kilometers) beneath the frozen crust was more likely than an elongated rocky core. The scientists based their findings on observations by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, which observed Saturn and its more than 140 moons for more than a decade before diving through the ringed planet’s atmosphere in 2017 and burning up.
Barely 250 miles (400 kilometers) in diameter, the heavily cratered moon lacks the fractures and geysers — typical signs of subsurface activity — of Saturn’s Enceladus and Jupiter’s Europa.
“Mimas was probably the most unlikely place to look for a global ocean — and liquid water more generally,” co-author Valery Lainey of the Paris Observatory said in an email. “So that looks like a potential habitable world. But nobody knows how much time is needed for life to arise.”
Related articles
Mystery artist who erected signs comparing pothole
A defiant resident infuriated by the potholes in their road has taken revenge on the council by erec2024-05-21Pennsylvania school district's decision to cut song from student concert raises concerns
ROARING SPRING, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania school district’s decision to remove a song from a recent2024-05-21Loperfido hits first MLB homer, Javier solid as Astros beat A's 8
HOUSTON (AP) — Rookie Joey Loperfido hit his first major league home run and Cristian Javier pitched2024-05-21Federal judge hearing arguments on challenges to NYC’s fee for drivers into Manhattan
NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s first-in-the-nation plan to levy a hefty toll on drivers entering much of2024-05-21Election 2024: Biden and Trump bypassed the Commission on Presidential Debates
PHOENIX (AP) — The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, which has planned presidential fa2024-05-21GOP group targets conservative Rep. Bob Good, who voted to oust McCarthy
WASHINGTON (AP) — A political action committee that helps Republicans get elected to Congress is doi2024-05-21
atest comment