Saturn moon has liquid water below surface!

news.yahoo.com...

NEW YORK – Scientists have found new evidence that one of Saturn's moons has an ocean beneath its surface. That's important because liquid water is a key ingredient for life.

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[edit on 24/6/2009 by Mirthful Me]

Yes -- and water-ice geysers, too. In fact the Cassini space probe has flown through the geysers on at least two occasions and found organic molecules (However, organic molecules do NOT automatically = life).

The geysers are thought to originate from a part of the moon that is warm enough for liquid water.

Here are some other threads about Enceladus and its water.
www.abovetopsecret.com...
www.abovetopsecret.com...

With both water AND organic molecules, I would put Enceladus above even Europa as a potential place to find life. The article you linked seems to talk about some further evidence of this water (although it also mentions an opposing view).

Interesting stuff


[edit on 6/24/2009 by Soylent Green Is People]

PARIS - Huge geysers on Saturn's moon Enceladus may be fed by a salty sea below its surface, boosting the odds of extraterrestrial life in our own Solar System, according to a study released Wednesday.

www.theprovince.com...

From a mainstream major news paper in Vancouver, BC - Canada eh



Interesting stuff. I cant believe my fiancée sent me the link from work, she is one of them that thought we are "alone" in the universe...I must be fading on her

Its getting some attention now. Cant believe it hasnt been hot topic at this site yet

[edit on 24-6-2009 by kurupt915]

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[edit on 24/6/2009 by Mirthful Me]

Originally posted by kurupt915

Its getting some attention now. Cant believe it hasnt been hot topic at this site yet

I agree --

When the news first came out last year about the liquid water and organic compounds on Enceladus, I tried in a couple of threads to say that Enceladus -- not necessarily Europa -- should be the attention-getter of the "life elsewhere" people...or at least it should get attention equal to Europa. However, nobody on ATS seemed to care.

Perhaps this esoteric science stuff doesn't thrill people as much as the "tiny humanoid statue on Mars" kinds of threads.

Perhaps now that the original findings are being confirmed we will see a little more interest.



[edit on 6/24/2009 by Soylent Green Is People]

reply to post by Soylent Green Is People

I tried in a couple of threads to say that Enceladus -- not necessarily Europa -- should be the attention...

Right. But I saw somewhere (here on ATS??) someone try to claim Enceladus was an artificial moon, a spaceship (?!) and to 'prove' it, they posted a side-by-side picture with the 'Death Star' from 'Star Wars'.

Serious discussion was dealt a death blow...

adding: to clarify, photos of Enceladus show that it has a massive crater-like feature that dominates one hemisphere -- hence, the 'Death Star' comparison...

[edit on 6/24/0909 by weedwhacker]

Originally posted by Soylent Green Is People


Perhaps this esoteric science stuff doesn't thrill people as much as the "tiny humanoid statue on Mars" kinds of threads.

Perhaps now that the original findings are being confirmed we will see a little more interest.


[edit on 6/24/2009 by Soylent Green Is People]

Maybe because while it could be "alien" life, it's not alien enough. Nothing from Enceladus or Europa ever buzzed the earth in a UFO, or mutilated a cow or probed Uncle Bubba down in the swamp.

I'm afraid microbes won't hold a candle to Ascended Nordics or whatever that stuff is.

Originally posted by weedwhacker
Right. But I saw somewhere (here on ATS??) someone try to claim Enceladus was an artificial moon, a spaceship (?!) and to 'prove' it, they posted a side-by-side picture with the 'Death Star' from 'Star Wars'.

Serious discussion was dealt a death blow...

Was that instead Iapetus you are referring to, not Enceladus?



Iapetus is apparently a space ship parked in orbit there long ago by ancient humans who came to this system, or some such crap like that...

reply to post by IronDogg


Your picture gives me a 403 forbidden error for some reason.
en.wikipedia.org...(moon)
looking at wiki, I think you're right.


blogs.discovermagazine.com...

Today's BadAstronomy mentions the moon, apparently there's some contention between whether or not the water is salty or not.

reply to post by RuneSpider


Yes I see that... It did work... Here is the link to the page where that picture is located:
www.enterprisemission.com...

Hopefully that works...

reply to post by RuneSpider

No -- it's Saturn's moon Mimas that is the "Death star Moon":

Mimas

Iapatus is "rumored" to be artificial because of the ridge that runs along it (it looks like a walnut shell) but it is not artificial and the ridge can be explained naturally.


[edit on 6/24/2009 by Soylent Green Is People]

reply to post by IronDogg


Yes, Dogg!

Thank you. Memory had a few holes in it, but at least I was in the ballpark!

Boy, talk about a mixed metaphor....

edit for soylent: Ooooh! THAT's it.....

[edit on 6/24/0909 by weedwhacker]

A few years back I heard of a planned mission NASA had to send a probe to one of those icy moons that would drill down through the ice and hopefully reach any water there so it could take pictures of what it saw down there. I never heard anything afterwards though. Have any of you ever heard about it, or have information about it?

Hey Guys I talally agree with it that Saturn moon has liquid water below surface! Because i read a book on astrophysics and also an article on the Universe matter and derived the conclusion .

I don't know why, but I have believed in life in our own backyard for years now, however I thought Underground Mars, not saturn.
But this is awesome to read about, good find OP!
I believe as time goes by and technology gets better we will find out more and more that our scientists were wrong and life exists closer to home than we thought.

I cant help but picture the lil shrimp like things that eat bacteria in the deepest darkest parts of our ocean, huddled around oceanic volcanic vents. Life can develop in the most unlikely of places, so I think this moon of saturn could hold the same type of life, if not other kinds.
I cant imagine it would be intelligent life, but any form of life somewhere else in the system would be a remarkable find.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

Theres possibly good eating in those shrimp.

Originally posted by skeetontheconspiracy...
I cant imagine it would be intelligent life, but any form of life somewhere else in the system would be a remarkable find.

It would be incredible...however we must first find out if it is truly life that formed independently from life on Earth, or is it possibly seeded from the same source that seeded life on Earth -- or, even, is Earth itself the source?

I'm not saying that the Panspermia Hypothesis is likely to have occurred -- all I'm saying is that it is possible that life that originated on Earth, Mars, or a Jovian/Saturnian Moon, then was carried to from one world to another on a meteor fragment blown off of that world where life originated (we already found meteors that came from Mars, so perhaps life-carrying Meteors were blown off of the Earth and seeded other worlds in our solar system.)

It would be infinitely MORE incredible if life found, for example, on Enceladus was 100% different than and independent from life found on the Earth, because that would mean that life could be absolutely abundant in the Universe -- seeing that it arose spontaneously and independently in two places in the same solar system.

So when we do find life elsewhere, the first thing we must ask ourselves is "is its origin completely independent from life on Earth"


[edit on 6/28/2009 by Soylent Green Is People]

absolutely awesome thinking. I hadn't even pondered that hypothesis until now. But that is something to think about.

I personally believe life on Earth was started via panspermia from a dying Mars, or from a source similar to ancient life on Mars, Yes there was once life on Mars, no proof I just know it deep down.
But whos to say that the same source that seeded Earth and Mars couldn't be the same source to seed the rest of our solar system.

Perhaps a once habitable, viable, Earth like planet that blew up into a million pieces. Most of the water from that planet made it to Earth to form our oceans(being as no one knows where 90% or Earth water came from),chunks of the planet containing Bacteria struck our Earth which started a whole chain of life ending where we are today. Along with the remains of that planet striking other heavenly bodies, seeding them, and leaving our Asteroid belt and rings on other planets. Just a theory.

Anothjr theory: Maybe something or someone placed the same building blocks for life on every single planet in our solar system to see what type of life would evolve. If you look aorund Earth, life exists in the most unthinkable of conditions, so it makes you think what type of life could evolve in otherworldly conditions.

DIdn't they find a meteor from Mars or somewhere containing fossilized bacteria in Antarctica a while back?


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

Originally posted by skeetontheconspiracy
DIdn't they find a meteor from Mars or somewhere containing fossilized bacteria in Antarctica a while back?

The findings associated with that Mars meteorite were inconclusive; Some say the microscopic objects seen in that meteorite could be fossilized "nano-bacteria", while others say it could be natural geological formations.


[edit on 6/29/2009 by Soylent Green Is People]