Name: Anonymous 2011-06-23 5:04
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2011/0622/Hidden-sea-on-a-Saturn-moon-New-evidence-says-yes/
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Hidden sea on a Saturn moon? New evidence says yes.
Satellite Cassini flew through geyser plumes spouting from Enceladus and gathered ice crystals. These crystals are salt-rich, suggesting that a hidden salty sea lurks beneath Enceladus's icy cap.
The geysers emerging from the southern pole of Enceladus, captured here by Cassini in 2010, suggest that the icy moon have hidden liquid depths.
SSI/JPL/NASA
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By Pete Spotts, Staff writer / June 22, 2011
Spectacular geysers of ice crystals that erupt from Saturn's moon Enceladus – and that formed Saturn's diaphanous E-ring – likely come from a subsurface sea reminiscent of Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth."
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Moreover, the geysers appear to be driven by a mysterious heat source unlike anything yet seen in the solar system.
Those are the implications of a new study of the geysers' plumes. The study will appear in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.
If the conclusions hold up to further scrutiny, they also imply that ice-encrusted Enceladus – far from the sun's "habitable zone" – could harbor a subsurface environment hospitable to simple forms of life.
RECOMMENDED: What's new with Titan? Five intriguing findings from Saturn's largest moon
Although the notion of a under-ice sea on Enceladus isn't new, until now the evidence in hand has allowed for an explanation for the ice plumes that doesn't require presence of liquid water, explains Sascha Kempf, a planetary scientist at the University of Colorado at Boulder and a member of the team reporting the results.
But by analyzing ice samples from the plumes, gathered by NASA's Cassini orbiter, the research team determined that 99 percent of the mass of the plumes is accounted for by salt-rich ices.
The simplest way to pick up the salts is for water to leach them out of rock over long periods of time. It's a process similar to the one that salts Earth's oceans.
The new results indicate that, despite its sound basis in physics, the "dry" solution to the geyser puzzle "is now off the table," Dr. Kempf says. "Nature did not choose that option."
The results conjure up an image of a sea in a vast subsurface cavern, Kempf acknowledges, although he adds that the team doesn't know whether the sea is global or local to the south pole.
According to the model proposed by the research team, water boils off the top of the subsurface sea, into the near-vacuum environment. As the water bubbles burst, the spray freezes into tiny crystals that get swept along with gases, up through fissures in the moon's ice crust.
The new results resonate with at least one scientist who help craft the "dry" explanation for the plumes, which appeared in a 2006 research paper in the journal Science. "I prefer this straightforward explanation," offers John Spencer, a planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo. "The warm temperatures implied by liquid water will provide plenty of pressure to drive the plumes," he writes in an email exchange.
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Hidden sea on a Saturn moon? New evidence says yes.
Satellite Cassini flew through geyser plumes spouting from Enceladus and gathered ice crystals. These crystals are salt-rich, suggesting that a hidden salty sea lurks beneath Enceladus's icy cap.
The geysers emerging from the southern pole of Enceladus, captured here by Cassini in 2010, suggest that the icy moon have hidden liquid depths.
SSI/JPL/NASA
Enlarge
1Share 0 and 5
By Pete Spotts, Staff writer / June 22, 2011
Spectacular geysers of ice crystals that erupt from Saturn's moon Enceladus – and that formed Saturn's diaphanous E-ring – likely come from a subsurface sea reminiscent of Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth."
Skip to next paragraph
Related stories
Cassini spacecraft finds evidence for liquid water on Enceladus
On Saturn's moons, some unexpected hints of water
On the horizon: news from the frontiers of science
Topics
Science and Technology
Sciences
Space Technology
Technology
Unmanned Space Exploration
Planetary Science
Astronomy
Moreover, the geysers appear to be driven by a mysterious heat source unlike anything yet seen in the solar system.
Those are the implications of a new study of the geysers' plumes. The study will appear in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.
If the conclusions hold up to further scrutiny, they also imply that ice-encrusted Enceladus – far from the sun's "habitable zone" – could harbor a subsurface environment hospitable to simple forms of life.
RECOMMENDED: What's new with Titan? Five intriguing findings from Saturn's largest moon
Although the notion of a under-ice sea on Enceladus isn't new, until now the evidence in hand has allowed for an explanation for the ice plumes that doesn't require presence of liquid water, explains Sascha Kempf, a planetary scientist at the University of Colorado at Boulder and a member of the team reporting the results.
But by analyzing ice samples from the plumes, gathered by NASA's Cassini orbiter, the research team determined that 99 percent of the mass of the plumes is accounted for by salt-rich ices.
The simplest way to pick up the salts is for water to leach them out of rock over long periods of time. It's a process similar to the one that salts Earth's oceans.
The new results indicate that, despite its sound basis in physics, the "dry" solution to the geyser puzzle "is now off the table," Dr. Kempf says. "Nature did not choose that option."
The results conjure up an image of a sea in a vast subsurface cavern, Kempf acknowledges, although he adds that the team doesn't know whether the sea is global or local to the south pole.
According to the model proposed by the research team, water boils off the top of the subsurface sea, into the near-vacuum environment. As the water bubbles burst, the spray freezes into tiny crystals that get swept along with gases, up through fissures in the moon's ice crust.
The new results resonate with at least one scientist who help craft the "dry" explanation for the plumes, which appeared in a 2006 research paper in the journal Science. "I prefer this straightforward explanation," offers John Spencer, a planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo. "The warm temperatures implied by liquid water will provide plenty of pressure to drive the plumes," he writes in an email exchange.
1 | 2
Next [next]
Permissions
Get 18 Issues FREE when you subscribe to The Monitor today!
Read Comments
View reader comments | Comment on this story
USA »
'Footloose,' 'Ghostbusters,' and more: Risk-averse Hollywood remakes '80s films
Science »
Hidden sea on a Saturn moon? New evidence says yes.
The Culture »
The Voice eliminates eight singers this week
World »
Indonesia's ojek drivers see profits in safety
World »
Takashi Murakami brings summer solstice to the Google doodle
Making a Difference
Refugee in U.S. educates 3,000 children back in South Sudan
USA »
Is Rory McIlroy the next Tiger Woods?
USA »
Superhero summer: Behind 'Green Lantern' and the rest, an American story
The Culture »
Jim Carrey acts out in Mr. Popper's Penguins: movie review
USA »
US boosts 'game-changer' solar technology in bid for global market share
Science »
Space exploration: Will budget cuts stall search for other Earths?
Business »
Father's Day gifts: Top 5 unusual gifts for under $25
More Science »
Hidden sea on a Saturn moon? New evidence says yes.
Subscribe to the weekly Monitor
Most viewed
Fried Kool-Aid has people lining up to try it at the fair [VIDEO]
Casey Anthony defense tries to put Florida prosecutors on trial
La Familia drug cartel defeated, says Mexico
What Afghans think about President Obama's troop drawdown
New iPhone 5 rumors point to "radical new case," August release
Photos of the day
06.22.11 »
CSMonitor.com on Facebook
CSMonitor.com on Facebook
In Pictures
Space photos of the day: USSR Edition
Inside CSMonitor.com:
Who will carry out Obama's Afghanistan exit plan? Three new guys.
It will be the duty of three men, all new in their roles, to carry out Obama's plan to wind down the war in Afghanistan. Here are some clues into what priorities these three defense leaders might set and a look at the particular skills each brings to the task of managing America’s longest war.
In South Africa, Michelle Obama helps rebuild trust and wows the young women
Mexico's most powerful drug cartels
Canada's 'kid' lawmakers poised to shake-up staid Parliament
FREE daily e-mail newsletter
CSMonitor.com top stories, cartoons and photos
See sample | Privacy Policy
What happens when ordinary people decide to pay it forward? Extraordinary change. See how individuals are making a difference...
This summer, Buffalo, N.Y.-based Dominic Deng Diing will visit his New Hope school in South Sudan. He hopes to construct a sister secondary school by 2015, and is aiming to raise $400,000.
Dominic Deng Diing, a refugee in the U.S., educates 3,000 children back in South Sudan
Dominic Deng Diing, who escaped the violence in Sudan, raises funds to help schoolchildren there.
Become part of the Monitor community
31K on Facebook | 11K on Twitter | 2,135 on YouTube
Become a fan! Follow us! YouTube Link up with us! See our feeds!
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