Scientists believe they’ve discovered a habitable world: ENCELLADUS

Encelladus has already been discussed at length here on ATS so I won't bore anyone with the details of this intriguing Moon around Saturn. Instead, I'll discuss the growing interest in this Moon for being a habitable world with life as we know it.

Enceladus has over 90 geysers that spew plumes of salty water vapor, organic compounds and ice particles from the underground ocean into the air. These present a great opportunity for a visiting spacecraft, which would not have to land to search for life (which is much more difficult and expensive) but could simply fly through the geysers to capture samples. “The plume is coming right out of the ocean,” McKay explains, “So why would we want to land? We can get the freshest stuff, coming right from the source.” Yet even if life exists on Enceladus, it may or may not show up in plume samples. If the pelagic ocean on Earth (that is, the open water away from the shore or seafloor) is an analogue for Saturn’s icy ocean moon, then the outlook is depressing—the pelagic zone has an extremely low density of life even on our planet. “If we had this in Enceladus’s ocean, it would be very hard to even pick up an organism,” Porco says. Scientists would need to sample a ridiculously large amount of water in order to capture any organisms. Thankfully, a few months ago a microbiologist told Porco about decades-old scientific research that makes her optimistic about finding life in the plumes. At the Berkeley meeting, she described this research on a process called “bubble scrubbing” that occurs in Earth’s oceans—and it could make quite a difference in Enceladus’s geysers. It turns out that wherever bubbles rise through water, they scrub the water column so that organisms and organic materials become concentrated at the surface. And when the bubbles burst (like in ocean spray or in Enceladus’s jets), they eject those microbes in the spray. So if life exists on Enceladus, its plumes may contain a much greater concentration of organisms than the rest of its ocean—all thanks to bubbles. “Even if the ocean on Enceladus starts out being as microbially poor as the pelagic ocean on Earth, which is the worst case, we still have a chance of seeing lots of organisms in the plumes,” Porco says. Still, this scenario immediately presents another issue: A spacecraft must find a way to capture a sample without smashing the delicate organisms to bits as it makes a high-speed pass through the jets.

Do you guys think that they've found life on Encelladus and are not saying just yet? I think so. I think we're being given subtle hints that life has been found. I think this because as I stated a while back in an older thread, I once asked an Ouija board if there is life in our solar system and the board said "on Encelladus...." It went on to say that there are Dolphin-like creatures there. This article about the excitement for the potential of life on Encelladus reminds me of that. What says ATS?


www.salon.com...

a reply to: lostbook

Sooner or later, the US will bring the "shock and awe of democracy" into its inhabitants.

Or an alternative scenario would be the US mostly likely have a Secret Base there since it is said the military possess technology 40 years more advanced than what the general public owned.

a reply to: lostbook

It may be habitable for Encelladians.
Too chilly for me to retire there though.
The warm spot runs about 260 degrees below zero on the Fahrenheit scale.
NASA

a reply to: lostbook

We have two orbital systems in our solar system that will likely contain life somewhere. Between Jupiter and Saturn, there are literally billions of things orbiting in a regular fashion. Ok yea, I used Saturn's rings to make up the billions number, but in reality there are several candidates that orbit both of our gaseous giants. With over 120 realistic moon bodies between the two, and several showing actual possibility to host organic life, it's most likely we will find exo-planetary life there first. For example, Titan is big enough to be a planet, but it orbits Saturn. It isn't likely to host much life, but is definitely a candidate.

originally posted by: butcherguy
a reply to: lostbook

It may be habitable for Encelladians.
Too chilly for me to retire there though.
The warm spot runs about 260 degrees below zero on the Fahrenheit scale.
NASA

Might it be warmer underneath the ice where the oceans are/are predicted? I would think it were warmer if the tidal forces from Jupiter are enough to turn the ice into liquid, or maybe there's a molten core. Maybe we can build an underwater habitat there...?

There is speculation that some Moons in the solar system are actually planets.

originally posted by: starwarsisreal
a reply to: lostbook

Sooner or later, the US will g the "shock and awe of democracy" into its inhabitants.

Or an alternative scenario would be the US mostly likely have a Secret Base there since it is said the military possess technology 40 years more advanced than what the general public owned.

I feel like there's something you want to get off your chest, but too afraid to make a thread of your own so you high jacked this thread and let us know how you felt about the US.

__________

This is a remarkable potential for earthlings. I hope we focus more on findings like this instead of planets billions of light years away.

originally posted by: lostbook

originally posted by: butcherguy
a reply to: lostbook

It may be habitable for Encelladians.
Too chilly for me to retire there though.
The warm spot runs about 260 degrees below zero on the Fahrenheit scale.
NASA

Might it be warmer underneath the ice where the oceans are/are predicted? I would think it were warmer if the tidal forces from Jupiter are enough to turn the ice into liquid, or maybe there's a molten core. Maybe we can build an underwater habitat there...?

There is speculation that some Moons in the solar system are actually planets.

I believe the estimates are 6-7 miles of surface ice for Enceladus. The oceanic system (if one exists) could definitely support life. The systems would only exist by way of geothermal energy from the planet's own internal friction.

Most likely to be some algae at best though

Tell more about things the oujia board told you.

originally posted by: RedDragon
Tell more about things the oujia board told you.

lol, I was like...come on man don't leave me hanging here. Yes more information on this please!

originally posted by: RedDragon
Tell more about things the oujia board told you.

Or, more likely, what you told the ouija board.

Sooo....

Because there could be microbes in the ocean below, this mean the mooncicle should qualify as an "habitable world"?

a reply to: lostbook

Does political correctness reign supreme there?

originally posted by: IgnoranceIsntBlisss
Sooo....

Because there could be microbes in the ocean below, this mean the mooncicle should qualify as an "habitable world"?

Honestly, I would be willing to bet some money that 90% of our worlds out there host some sort of life. We are really finding out, just on Earth, that they find things they didn't think could exist in such an environment.

originally posted by: butcherguy
a reply to: lostbook

It may be habitable for Encelladians.
Too chilly for me to retire there though.
The warm spot runs about 260 degrees below zero on the Fahrenheit scale.
NASA

Damn! Never mind, I'll deal with the political correctness here on Earth.

a reply to: LSU0408

??

originally posted by: HawkeyeNation

originally posted by: RedDragon
Tell more about things the oujia board told you.

lol, I was like...come on man don't leave me hanging here. Yes more information on this please!

Yeah I want to hear more about the dolphin like creatures.

They're probably hyper intelligent enclladian dolphin humanoids.

a reply to: HawkeyeNation

Imagine if there was a planet out there that had humans on it, or the equivalent of humans. I wonder if our scientists would spy on the all the time, or get caught spying on them by the beings that are spying on us.

a reply to: lostbook

Forget it, I was just being silly.

originally posted by: RedDragon
Tell more about things the oujia board told you.

Well, it said that there is life on SOME of the Moons in the solar system but it mentioned the name Encelladus in particular.

originally posted by: LSU0408
a reply to: lostbook

Forget it, I was just being silly.

K. Carry on.......