Astronomers find vast underground ocean under Saturn's Death Star
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronomers have found the best evidence yet of a vast, young ocean beneath the icy exterior of Saturn’s Death Star lookalike mini moon.
The French-led team analyzed changes in Mimas’ orbit and rotation and reported Wednesday that a hidden ocean 12 to 18 miles (20 to 30 kilometers) beneath the frozen crust was more likely than an elongated rocky core. The scientists based their findings on observations by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, which observed Saturn and its more than 140 moons for more than a decade before diving through the ringed planet’s atmosphere in 2017 and burning up.
Barely 250 miles (400 kilometers) in diameter, the heavily cratered moon lacks the fractures and geysers — typical signs of subsurface activity — of Saturn’s Enceladus and Jupiter’s Europa.
“Mimas was probably the most unlikely place to look for a global ocean — and liquid water more generally,” co-author Valery Lainey of the Paris Observatory said in an email. “So that looks like a potential habitable world. But nobody knows how much time is needed for life to arise.”
Related articles
'The Tortured Poets Department' gets largest streaming week ever
NEW YORK (AP) — Taylor Swift continues to dominate in the week following the release of her 11th alb2024-05-01President Xi to Make New Year Address to Ring in 2023
Contact Us HomeNewsHighlightACWF NewsSocietyWom2024-05-01Xi Presents Certificate of Order to Promote Military Officer to Rank of General
Contact Us HomeNewsHighlightACWF NewsSocietyWom2024-05-01Xi Focus: A Brief Timeline of Chinese President's COVID
Contact Us HomeNewsHighlightACWF NewsSocietyWom2024-05-01Beijing improves services to facilitate film and television projects
Beijing launched its film and television production service mechanism on Wednesday amid the bustling2024-05-01China specifies steps to improve payment services in tourist attractions
BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities have specified a slew of measures to further enhanc2024-05-01
atest comment