Enceladus’s unusual features could help scientists search for evidence of life outside Earth.
Enceladus, Saturn’s sixth largest moon, is awash with liquid water beneath its icy shell. At the moon’s south pole, the subsurface ocean erupts from one hundred geysers located along four parallel fractures known as ‘tiger stripes.’ The towering jets of ice particles form a plume that snows back down to the surface. Some of the ice even escapes the moon’s gravity and forms Saturn’s E-ring.
To understand exactly how the tiger stripes formed, researchers model ice shell fractures based on various thicknesses.
Like hydrothermal vents on Earth, those on Enceladus sit on the seafloor. There, heat from the moon’s rocky interior may erupt hot mineral-rich water in chimney-like ocean currents — and organisms could take advantage of the different concentrations of dissolved minerals in these streams. “We are conservative in our estimate of life due to the limited energy budget, but you could certainly have multicellular organisms such as crabs,” Cable says.
Norge Siste Nytt, Norge Overskrifter
Similar News:Du kan også lese nyheter som ligner på denne som vi har samlet inn fra andre nyhetskilder.
What would happen if an asteroid hit Earth today?Depending on the size of the space rock, an asteroid impact could be an extinction level event and researchers have created simulations to see how bad it could be.
Les mer »
Webb Arrives at Second Lagrange Point of Sun-Earth System | Sci-News.comOn January 24, 2021, the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope fired its thrusters for 297 seconds to complete the final post launch course correction to its trajectory.
Les mer »
North Korean missile test captures photos of Earth from space: reportIt was North Korea's biggest missile test since late 2017.
Les mer »
10 Exceptional Images Of Earth From SpaceA collection of the some of the best images of Earth from space.
Les mer »
The Atmosphere of This Extreme Exoplanet Has an Intriguing Similarity to EarthAstronomers have just peered into the atmosphere of one of the most extreme exoplanets ever discovered.
Les mer »
Gas stoves are even worse for the climate than previously thought, study showsStoves continuously leak small amounts of methane, emitting as much greenhouse gas as 500,000 cars put out in one year.
Les mer »