Hidden Ocean Found on Saturn's Icy Moon Enceladus, Could Potentially Support Life

Yahoo News ^ | 3 Apr 2014 | Mike Wall

[mandaladon]

The Saturn moon Enceladus harbors a big ocean of liquid water beneath its icy crust that may be capable of supporting life as we know it, a new study reports.

The water ocean on Enceladus is about 6 miles (10 kilometers) deep and lies beneath a shell of ice 19 to 25 miles (30 to 40 km) thick, researchers said. Further, it's in direct contact with a rocky seafloor, theoretically making possible all kinds of complex chemical reactions — such as, perhaps, the kind that led to the rise of life on Earth.

"The main implication is that there are potentially habitable environments in the solar system in places which are completely unexpected," study lead author Luciano Iess said in a video about the discovery produced by his home institution, Sapienza University in Rome. "Enceladus has a surface temperature of about minus 180 degrees Celsius [minus 292 degrees Fahrenheit], but under that surface there is liquid water."

[mandaladon]

"The team's calculations suggest that the moon's ocean covers at least as much area as Lake Superior, the second-largest lake on Earth — though the icy moon's sea is much deeper than Lake Superior and thus holds a great deal more water.".......................Exciting!

[Bringbackthedraft]

I guess we should start right away, and drop some microbes on the planet, and in 500,000,000 years we may find a civilization living there?

[Paladin2]

Have they checked for MH370?

[C210N]

Ocean property, great place for a resort!

[LeoWindhorse]

a nice potential exile planet for muslims and Libs?

[mark3681]

Hidden Ocean Found on Saturn’s Icy Moon...

O.K. How’d they find it?

[MHGinTN]

Oh yeah? Well I want to know who made Iapetus and put it in orbit around Saturn, and when!

[ilovesarah2012]

Yeah, but where’s the plane???

[colorado tanker]

Gee, I hope the life under there doesn't look like this:

[ExCTCitizen]

The Dems are looking for life, so they can register them to vote, the RINIs want them so they can be welcome in the USA and the Environmentallists want to declare them endangered species.

[SunkenCiv]

:’)

If I hadn’t hated that movie before that thing came on the screen, it would have happened right then. Thanks to that crappy second trilogy, I’ve lost all interest in the whole thing, have never even bothered to get the originals on DVD.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks colorado tanker.

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