SCI/TECH: 'Tiger stripes' found on Saturn moon

Located at the south pole of Enceladus, is a puzzling feature that should not be there. It is puzzling, because this hot spot on the moon is at the pole. In most things, the Equator is the hottest part of a moon or planet. It is concluded that the heat comes from decaying radioactive material below the moon's surface orthat it is caused by gravitational tides. The "tiger stripes" at the south pole of Enceladus, may be shooting out vapor and ice water particles.



With it being a hot spot on the Ice laden Enceladus, this makes it highly probable that it contains liquid water under it's surface. And with Water comes the possibility of life. Plus, with the heat from whatever is conjuring it up, life becomes even more possible than with just liquid water. perhaps we have found the next moon we should investigte for signs of life.

That is so bizarre. I wonder if the blue color was added or if it is infrared imaging or what. Could that be ice?



It amazes me that there is a surprise around every corner with these probes.

Could it be because that Jupiter is becoming a Sun...? there by causing some sort of heat, which starts to warm up the Saturn's moons..

there is a rumor that Jupiter will eventually turn into a Sun sometime in the near future...say, in the year 2010...

[edit on 30-8-2005 by mwen]

I highly doubt that one. There would have to be a chain reaction thing to engulf it in flames, and the Levy comet struck it and caused nothing. Besides... this is Saturn we're talking about... not Jupiter.

My first thought was underground civilization, what else would explain heat emissions at a pole? I suppose it could be volcanic activity, but this isnt as interesting a theory.

I'd tend to think of Volcanic activity... or some sort of friciton below the surface that is causing this. It is very strange indeed that the hot spot is at the Pole. In the article they said it's equivalent to us finding that Antaractica is Hotter than the Equator.

Could it be because that Jupiter is becoming a Sun...?

there is a rumor that Jupiter will eventually turn into a Sun sometime in the near future...say, in the year 2010...

Oh, that's right, and I'm supposed to have a front row seat.

Supposedly, Jupiter and the Sun have similar elements...

It also found that the ratio of the amount of hydrogen present to the amount of helium present was similar to the ratio that has been determined for the outer envelope of the Sun. This similarity in the hydrogen-helium ratio supports the theory that Jupiter and the Sun formed from the same cloud of material...

encarta.msn.com...(planet).html

www.nasa.gov...

Just because they are very similar, does not mean they are the same. Do you know how close our DNA is to Apes and such? That little difference is huge, as is the differences between the Sun and Jupiter. It would be pretty cool though to have our own little Tatooine here at home though.

Jupiter will not become a star. It's completely impossible... Not enough mass and not enough of the proper elements.

Anyway, keep in mind that the moon is VERY cold, so that hot spot is only relative. It still may be hundreds of degrees below zero.

I think there are frozen gases within the moon itself. Saturn's gravity acts upon the moon creating internal friction. The fissures at the south pole of the moon are deep enough to reach the warmer layer and the frozen/liquid substances there sublimate to a gas or turn from liquid to gas.

[edit on 8/30/2005 by GoldEagle]

It is possible there could have been an impact at the location. I doubt such an impact would cause enough heat to last very long way out there, but it could cause deep fissures on what figures to be a pretty brittle surface. The fissures in turn could vent warmer material from the interior of the moon. I haven't bothered to check out the density of the moon yet so I don't have any idea how quickly heat would build with depth/pressure inside that moon. Conversely, the impactor could have been radioactive. Just an idle thought anyway as I'm at a loss trying to reconcile the strange location.

For the UFOlogists around, mayby an alien space craft crashed there.

[edit on 1-9-2005 by Astronomer68]

It could be an impact. The initial contact would have caused the materials to heat for, for at least a short while. It is also possible, that if large enough, the impact of such an object penetrated the Ice enough... it could have created fissures that caused great amounts of riction deep under ground. Or maybe the aliens just left the Heater on? Hopefully scientists can shed some more light on this soon.