Ocean hidden inside Saturn's moon

Ocean hidden inside Saturn's moon

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By Jeanna Bryner

updated 2:48 p.m. ET, Wed., June 24, 2009
Astronomers have found the strongest evidence yet for an ocean beneath the icy shell of Saturn's Enceladus, suggesting it could join the exclusive club of watery moons in our solar system.

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Do any members think there is now a chance of some type of life/microbes on Saturn giving the fact that here on Earth we find them in the hotest places? The salty water is likely feeding jets of water-ice that spurt from the moon's south polar region. Such plumes were first reported in 2005, and ever since, astronomers have suspected a liquid ocean might lie beneath the icy shell of Saturn's sixth largest moon.



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(visit the link for the full news article)

I definitely think it's interesting that scientists have always said water is needed for life (I'm of the view that who knows what's out there, life might find a way) and now we keep discovering more and more water in our solar system.

I'm not ringing the disclosure bell or anything, I just think it's interesting.

reply to post by TheStev


Water is deemed essential due to that fact lots of things can dissolve in it and it facilitates chemical reactions without getting involved in them. Not alot of other chemicals in the "known" universe are good at that.

reply to post by LunarLooney1


Hi Lunar....
Gee its a wonder that Nasa hasn't notice this before about Enceladus! Methinks maybe an ocean has been spotted where it wasn't before? Enter Solar system warming......as opposed to 'Global Warming'.

Originally posted by stumason
reply to post by TheStev

 

Water is deemed essential due to that fact lots of things can dissolve in it and it facilitates chemical reactions without getting involved in them. Not alot of other chemicals in the "known" universe are good at that.

Yeah, well they never thought there would be lifeforms which live in methane either... but that was proven patently false...

As you mentioned, it's not water that is required, but a suitable environment, which here on earth, water seems to provide...

Originally posted by KRISKALI777
reply to post by LunarLooney1

 

Hi Lunar....
Gee its a wonder that Nasa hasn't notice this before about Enceladus! Methinks maybe an ocean has been spotted where it wasn't before? Enter Solar system warming......as opposed to 'Global Warming'.

This is NOT something that NASA "just noticed".

NASA scientists had evidence of the undergound ocean years ago when the Cassini spacecraft started studying Enceladus a bit more closely.

Scientists have known for 20 years (through the Voyager spacecraft) that Enceladus had water-ice, but they only recently (through Cassini) theorized that it may also have liquid water. Plus, these oceans are underground (i.e., not visible).

here's a thread I started over a year ago talking about the underground oceans and organic molecules on Enceladus:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

And here another thread from last year where we on ATS were discussing the possibility of life on Enceladus and other moons:
www.abovetopsecret.com...


[edit on 6/26/2009 by Soylent Green Is People]

reply to post by HunkaHunka


Lifeforms that eat methane only do so to gain energy, they still require water, however, to survive.

Although I do agree with you, as long as there is a Ph neutral chemical that was a good solvent, then yes, I could see no reason why it wouldn't work as well.

However, water is probably one of the most common materials in the Universe, seeing as it is mostly hydrogen. Finding it in liquid form, where it is at it's most useful, is the tricky part. Looking for liquid water is probably the best shot we have of finding life.

reply to post by stumason


Sure, I understand that a reasonable scientific explanation exists for why life would most likely need water, even if I don't understand the specifics of the explanation.

I just think when we only have the life from one planet to judge by we simply don't have enough data to extrapolate our model of life to other planets. One other planet, even if it's only microbial life, and you can begin to extrapolate, but right now I just think it's a stretch.

But I do also understand that we can only go by what we know. I guess it would be too much of a mouthful for scientists to use the term 'capable of supporting life as we know it' instead