Water on Enceladus

[Kärnfysikern]

This is pretty cool.

Cassini Finds Possible Liquid Water On Enceladus

Plumes of icy material extend above the southern polar region of Saturn's moon Enceladus as imaged by the Cassini spacecraft in February 2005
by Staff Writers
Boulder, Colo. (SPX) March 9, 2006
NASA's Cassini spacecraft may have found evidence of liquid water near the south pole of Saturn's small moon Enceladus. If confirmed, the existence of water on a body that should be frozen solid raises many new questions about planetary geology, said the scientists who derived the discovery from the spacecraft's data.
"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 in Boulder.

"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 – it doesn't get any more exciting than this."

In three separate articles appearing in the March 10 issue of the journal Science, Porco and colleagues said high-resolution images of Enceladus show icy jets rising from the surface and towering plumes ejecting huge quantities of particles at high speed.

She said the team studied several computer models that might explain the process, but they abandoned the idea the particles are produced or blown off the surface by vapor created when water ice converts to a gas.

"We haven't found water, per se - we've found evidence of water, and our best models right now are those that suggest that there's pockets of liquid water under the surface, and what we're seeing in these jets are like the equivalent of Old Faithful, in Yellowstone (National Park in Wyoming), they're geysers that are erupting out of pockets of water."

Instead, she said, the evidence points to jets that might be erupting from near-surface pockets of liquid water - above 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit – just like colder versions of the Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone.

"There are other moons in the solar system that have liquid water oceans covered by kilometers of icy crust," said Andrew Ingersoll, an atmospheric scientist a co-author of the research published in Science. "What's different here is that pockets of liquid water may be no more than 10 meters below the surface."

In the near-vacuum conditions at the moon's surface, liquid water would boil away into space, erupting forcefully into the void and carrying particles of ice and liquid water along with the vapor. When the scientists analyzed the jets and plumes, they found most of the particles eventually fall back to the surface, giving the south pole its extremely bright veneer. Enceladus is considered the most reflective object in the solar system.

The particles that escape the moon's gravity enter orbit around Saturn, forming the planet's E ring, the scientists said.

The team found the icy geysers because Cassini's images have revealed the geology of Enceladus in startling detail, including relaxed craters and extensive surface cracks and folds. The scientists said the moon probably has undergone geologic activity over its entire 4.5-billion-year history, from its formation to the present, but the southern pole seems to be the only place where liquid water may currently exist near the surface.

Telltale geologic features throughout the southern hemisphere of Enceladus also point to a change in the body's shape with time. Porco's team thinks these features could be related to an episode of intense heating in the moon's past, which might, in turn, explain the anomalous warmth and current activity at the pole.

The sources of this warmth remain a major puzzle, and may involve some combination of tidal flexing and heating of the interior by naturally radioactive material. Radioactivity could provide enough heat to power the geysers, which erupt from the narrow warm fractures called tiger stripes seen crossing the southern pole. Whether such a phenomenon could generate enough energy to produce the amount of heat observed is uncertain.

"Active water geysers on little Enceladus are a major surprise," said Torrence Johnson of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and another research co-author. "We're still puzzled about the details and energy sources, but what's exciting is that Enceladus obviously figured out how to do it. Now it's up to us to crack the mystery."

If the findings stand, they would suggest that other - and possibly many - of Saturn's 46 moons and Jupiter's 63.

"We previously knew of at most three places where active volcanism exists: Jupiter's moon Io, Earth, and possibly Neptune's moon Triton," said John Spencer, another team member, of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder. "Cassini changed all that, making Enceladus the latest member of this very exclusive club, and one of the most exciting places in the solar system."

Candy Hansen, a Cassini scientist at JPL, said the geysers on Enceladus might also be related to the abundance of oxygen molecules permeating the Saturnian system. "As Cassini approached Saturn ... we had no idea where the oxygen was coming from. Now we know Enceladus is spewing out water molecules, which break down into oxygen and hydrogen."

In the spring of 2008, scientists will get another chance to look at Enceladus when Cassini flies within 350 kilometers (approximately 220 miles) above the moon's surface.

"There's no question, along with the moon Titan, Enceladus should be a very high priority for us," Jonathan Lunine, Cassini interdisciplinary scientist, University of Arizona in Tucson. "Saturn has given us two exciting worlds to explore."

To bad NASA is ditching alot of space science projects, especialy the icy moon orbiter, and astrobilology to try and make bush's moronic goal possible. Especialy now when we find possible life harboring environments everywhere. Got to love dimwit politicians meddling with science.

[Giantz11]

Johan, I forgot to metion, you're a nerd bro....

[Kärnfysikern]

your just jelous

[helium3]

interesting post havent been on the nasa site for a while i think ill check it out,cant wait to see if theres an ocean under europa also,http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/index.html ,this one is a good site for pics if anyones interested

[Kärnfysikern]

thanks for the link

Yeah I cant wait for a mission to Europa. But since nasa has canceled that project we will be waiting for a LONG time. Unless ESA starts something on there own. The icy moon orbiter was gotten rid of to make more cash aviable for bush's mad plan to go to the moon again and later on mars. Im all for manned missions to the moon. But NOT if it means cutting funds for things as important as the icy moon orbiter or the terestial planet finder. Pisses me the **** off. Those 2 projects could find extraterestial life for christ sake. Nothing is more important than that.

Not to mention they have cut funds(or abandond completely, not sure) the telescope that was suposed to replace Hubble, the James Webb Space Telescope . If they had any brains at all they would realise the importance of that. Nothing has been more important to our understanding of the universe than hubble.

How the hell is the bush admin thinking nasa can pull of a moon mission with the limited funds they have?
Its impossible. If they want people on the moon again they damn well better be prepared to pay for it!!


AND FOR CHRIST SAKE RETIRE THE GOD DAMN SHUTTLE FLEET ONCE AND FOR ALL AND GIVE THE FINGER TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION!!!!

[Booz]

nutty as a fruitcake johan....................

[Kärnfysikern]