Current Affairs in the Oceans of Enceladus - The Cosmic Companion March 27, 2021
Studying oceans on one of the great water worlds of our solar system by looking at ice and heat...
The oceans of Enceladus could be more like the oceans of Earth than we believed — but is there life?
The icy surface of Enceladus covers a global ocean far deeper than those on Earth. Image credit: NASA
By James Maynard
Orbiting around Saturn, the icy moon Enceladus makes an intriguing target for astronomers and planetary scientists. Like Jupiter’s moon Europa, Enceladus is one of the water worlds of our solar system where we may, one day, find primitive life.
First discovered by legendary astronomer William Herschel in 1789, Enceladus is about as wide across as the state of Arizona. In 2014, the Cassini spacecraft exploring the Saturnian system found evidence of a vast subsurface ocean encompassing this frozen moon. Covering the entire surface of this ocean is a layer of ice 20 kilometers (around 12.5 miles) thick.
Geysers erupting from the south pole of that world reveal an active geology at the alien seafloor. Frozen debris from these eruptions spew into space, trailing behind the moon as it orbits its planetary parent, forming the E ring encircling Saturn.
Read more: https://thecosmiccompanion.net/exploring-the-oceans-of-enceladus
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Next week on Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companion:
Drs. Alan Jackson and Steven Desch from Arizona State University, on their study of ‘Oumuamua, the odd object which visited our solar system in 2017
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