Cassini may have found water on Enceladus

Nasa is set to make a "huge announcement" about life in our solar system. See drugereport.com for details!!!!

cfnews13.com...

[edit on 9-3-2006 by mxboy15u]

MOD EDIT:

www.drudgereport.com...

NASA's Cassini spacecraft may have found evidence of liquid water reservoirs that erupt in Yellowstone-like geysers on Saturn's moon Enceladus. The rare occurrence of liquid water so near the surface raises many new questions about the mysterious moon.

"We realize that this is a radical conclusion - that we may have evidence for liquid water within a body so small and so cold," said Carolyn Porco, Cassini imaging team leader at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. "However, if we are right, we have significantly broadened the diversity of solar system environments where we might possibly have conditions suitable for living organisms."

High-resolution Cassini images show icy jets and towering plumes ejecting huge quantities of particles at high speed. Scientists examined several models to explain the process. They ruled out the idea the particles are produced or blown off the moon's surface by vapor created when warm water ice converts to a gas. Instead, scientists have found evidence for a much more exciting possibility. The jets might be erupting from near-surface pockets of liquid water above 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit), like cold versions of the Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone.

Title changed too, to be less misleading, since the discovery is not about life.

[edit on 3/9/2006 by cmdrkeenkid]

Evidence of life, or actual life? We'll have to see...

If it is actual life, then the whole world changes...


Mars or Europa?

My guess is mars, there is too little known about europa, and there are several very convinving pictures of trees ect. on mars.

I'm stoked to see what NASA has to say today. Hopefully it is something substantial.

Alas, 2pm will take forever to arrive now that I am anticapting this announcement.

The traffic from Drudge is killing that link, sadly. Of course, since it is from Drudge, I'm taking this one with a very large dumptruck of salt.

And the link Drudge has up to the article is saying...

NASA is planning to make a huge announcement today, about possible life in our own solar system...

That doesn't mean they're going to say there is life elsewhere.

NASA doesn't make very many HUGE announcements. And the link from Drudge sends you to a local Florida TV station. Drudge is absolutely overwhelming them.

UPDATE!!!!!


www.drudgereport.com...

[edit on 9-3-2006 by mxboy15u]

Originally posted by mxboy15u
NASA doesn't make very many HUGE announcements. And the link from Drudge sends you to a local Florida TV station. Drudge is absolutely overwhelming them.

If this is such a huge announcement, why are Drudge and a local TV station the only ones proclaiming it? Could it be Drudge blowing something out of proprtion? No, why would that happen!?

Drudge did not say "huge" nasa did, and the national stations are too busy with bird flu and natalie holloway.

So is this about liquid water on some unexplored moon? Or finally Nasa adresses trees, and running water on the surface of mars.

[edit on 9-3-2006 by mxboy15u]

Ah, and look... It had nothing to do with life. Didn't see that one coming.

Oh, and the only mention of the word "life" in the entire article is here:

Might this activity have been continuous enough over the moon's history for life to have had a chance to take hold in the moon's interior?

I'm changing the title of this thread, so it's not misleading.

EDIT TO ADD: But yes, this is a huge announcement. I guess that that part was right, at least.

[edit on 3/9/2006 by cmdrkeenkid]

Local station has now changed their story, they say initial accounts of the nature of the press release were inaccurate. Looks like this is just about the liquid water on that moon.

I bet its more on this:

NASA's Cassini spacecraft may have found evidence of liquid water reservoirs that erupt in Yellowstone-like geysers on Saturn's moon Enceladus. The rare occurrence of liquid water so near the surface raises many new questions about the mysterious moon.

"We realize that this is a radical conclusion - that we may have evidence for liquid water within a body so small and so cold," said Carolyn Porco, Cassini imaging team leader at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. "However, if we are right, we have significantly broadened the diversity of solar system environments where we might possibly have conditions suitable for living organisms."

Link

[edit on 9-3-2006 by skippytjc]

Where is the President? If there is actual life, then he would be at the news conference.

I suspect that it is just as Drudge says, and that is evidence of Liquid
Water on a Saturnian moon.

water.....bummer.....

Why is this so huge? Didn't NASA come out a while back, and show where water was running down a martian hillside and making gullies? Superheated water makes it even less likely for life than extremely cold.

Originally posted by soulforge
Where is the President? If there is actual life, then he would be at the news conference.

Why...?

water.....bummer.....

WHy would you say that too...? This is huge because the only other place we know of in the Solar System to have liquid water at the surface is Earth.

Originally posted by mxboy15u
Didn't NASA come out a while back, and show where water was running down a martian hillside and making gullies?

No, but a lot of theories from Crackpot Conspiracies Ltd. have made that claim. As well as the claim that there are trees, pyramids, etc...

Superheated water makes it even less likely for life than extremely cold.

You'd be surprised.

[edit on 3/9/2006 by cmdrkeenkid]

Wow, that's really cool! Are there any sources out there that people have found more information about this, or do we have to wait for NASA? I'm really curious as to what they suspect would be allowing the water to be a liquid so near the surface. I know there's been a lot of mystery surrounding the smooth, seemingly fresh layer of ice on the surface of the satellite...Looks like the answer to what's causing that has been discovered, but like so many answers in astronomy, it opens the door to a lot more questions.

Enceladus is not the closest satellite to Saturn, lying over 238,000 km away, almost twice as far as Pan. While it is significantly larger than other satellites closer, Tethys is just a little farther and has quite a higher mass, leading me to believe it's not a gravitational pull that would be causing a hot inner core as Jupiter does to Io. Could it be a hot core? A chemical reaction taking place beneath the ice causing the water's freezing temperature to be a lot lower than simple H2O?

This is a huge discovery indeed. Some of y'all may be disappointed NASA isn't coming out talking about little green men, but I'm really excited. I'm really looking forward to hearing and learning more about this little buddy. Looking forward to reading the theories of those who made astronomy a profession instead of just a hobby. In the mean time, I'll just sit here and ponder. Ponder. Ponder...

Man I was always beting on Europa for the best chance of life in the solar systems Enceladus really came out of left field.

liquid water maybe there are some alien tube worms on Enceladus or something to the effect of the deep sea vent life found on earth

I don't get it. What's so surprising about liquid water on Enceladus? Isn't that moon a big ball of water ice with cryovolcanism due to tidal action? Hardly surprising if some of the ice erupting from those ice volcanoes were somewhat liquid or at least slushy as it punches through the surface.

I'm not getting it.

I agree this is a big break for us as humans.

Why,
Well, when I ponder about what else could be out there I look at our solar system. Interesting enough, I didn't see this coming either. Shocking actually. I know most of you here might think that 'o g wiz, huray its water." I think its great because the only water that we can find right now is on earth and finding water on a planet so close to our own is a BIG plus. I can't wait to see if they are going to send someone or a probe out to see what is going on.

But it also makes me think if we can detect water why not start a plan of exploration? Look at the possiblities of this. We already have the subzero suits that we need to explore areas like Mars and now this moon.
Man I want to quit my job and run down to NASA and say sign me up for a trip to Jupiter's moon.

I to will be pondering what the next BIG thing will be.

Drudge Report show's them as TWO SEPERATE stories..


Story one: Orlando Channel 13: 'Big NASA Announcement Set For Today'... // 'NASA is planning to make a huge announcement today, about possible life in our own solar system'...


Story two: **EXCLUSIVE** PLANNED PRESS RELEASE: NASA'S CASSINI DISCOVERS POTENTIAL LIQUID WATER ON ENCELADUS...


Story one looks more interesting...

Originally posted by texmiller
I know most of you here might think that 'o g wiz, huray its water."

Not exactly my sentiments, but it's close to that.

Actually it's more like "they found liquid water on a ball of water ice that is known to be geologically active due to tidal forces which pull and stretch the body until the interior warms up and produces cryovolcanic phenomena."

From there it's not a far stretch to see the possibility of liquid water.

That's why I am not surprised.

I'd be pleasantly surprised if they found water on Titan. Shocked if they found it on Hyperion or tiny Mimas.

Enceladus looks like mint and vanilla ice cream from afar. And it's got vents that spew ice due to heat and pressure, replenishing Saturn's rings.

Like I said, not suprised that some of that ice that spews out because of heat and pressure turns to water for a moment.