Vast Ocean Underlies Ice on Saturn's Moon Enceladus

This is just amazing! Imagine the possibilities! So here's the deal...



The discovery of a global ocean beneath its icy rind makes Enceladus an even better potential extraterrestrial incubator than previously thought. On Saturn’s moon Enceladus, a global, underground ocean vents through features called “tiger stripes” at its south pole (left, in this false-color image). Such alien oceans are prime candidates in the search for life beyond Earth.

A global ocean lurks inside Enceladus, Saturn’s saltwater-spitting moon—and that’s good news for alien hunters seeking an A-list extraterrestrial petri dish.

After sorting through more than seven years of data gathered by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, which the team plotted by hand, scientists have found that Enceladus wobbles ever so slightly as it orbits Saturn. While slight, the wobble is too large for a moon with a completely solid interior: It’s best explained by a free-floating crust that’s in contact with liquid all around, the team reported September 11 in Icarus.


"If the surface and core were rigidly connected, the core would provide so much dead weight that the wobble would be far smaller than we observe it to be," said the SETI Institute’s Matthew Tiscareno in a statement. "There must be a global layer of liquid separating the surface from the core."

Here's a pic to get an idea:

The study is solid work, says Bill McKinnon of the Washington University in St. Louis. Earlier work based on a set of gravity data taken by Cassini backs up the finding, he says, and suggests that a global ocean is the easiest way to explain some of Enceladus’ features.

I wonder if it's possible to find alien life down there. What do you think about this?

Sauce for moar

a reply to: Frocharocha

There's life there. An Ouija board told me so. It said there are Dolphin-like creatures in the oceans.

a reply to: lostbook

thanks for that ... the resulting smile from your post just lit my whole face up ...

I'd really like the understand the science they use to determine the insides of moons, planets and stars?

I am not even convinced of what they say the Earths core is made up of?

They say the Sun is made up of hydrogen right? Why does it not just blow up at once like say the Hindenburg blimp?

From wiki.

The Sun is composed primarily of the chemical elements hydrogen and helium; they account for 74.9% and 23.8% of the mass of the Sun in the photosphere, respectively.[

WIKI the Sun

if there is water, be it liquid or frozen, there tends to be life......these moons are probably cold as hell, but there has to be at least some microbial extremophiles living there.

a reply to: proob4

It can't blow up because there's no oxygen BUT it is permanently blowing up because that's what stars do.

originally posted by: proob4
I'd really like the understand the science they use to determine the insides of moons, planets and stars?

I am not even convinced of what they say the Earths core is made up of?

They say the Sun is made up of hydrogen right? Why does it not just blow up at once like say the Hindenburg blimp?

From wiki.

The Sun is composed primarily of the chemical elements hydrogen and helium; they account for 74.9% and 23.8% of the mass of the Sun in the photosphere, respectively.[

WIKI the Sun

Keplers Laws of Motion

From astronomical observation, we can determine the relative locations of a particular planet and it's moons. Over a long period of time, we can also calculate all the different perturbations that affect the orbit. Then we can calculate the "orbital elements" for each object; the plane of orbit, eccentricity, period, precession, average orbital radius. Those let us calculate the mass of the object. Given the gravitational constant and the observed size of the object, we can figure out the density of matter. That gives a clue to the main elements; metals, rock, water, ice, or gas.

originally posted by: proob4
I'd really like the understand the science they use to determine the insides of moons, planets and stars?

I am not even convinced of what they say the Earths core is made up of?

They say the Sun is made up of hydrogen right? Why does it not just blow up at once like say the Hindenburg blimp?

From wiki.

The Sun is composed primarily of the chemical elements hydrogen and helium; they account for 74.9% and 23.8% of the mass of the Sun in the photosphere, respectively.[

WIKI the Sun

The simple way it was described to me is the Sun is in a constant balance of "blowing up" & compression. The extreme gravity forces the hydrogen to fuse together, which cause nuclear explosions. Its gravity contains the "explosions" while the constant "explosions" stop it from collapsing on itself due to the extreme gravity.

I can't remember this part exactly, but I think this cycle is doomed once a star first creates iron. The iron (or whatever the element is) doesn't produce energy when it's forced to fuse with other elements by the extreme gravity. So now, the constant "explosions" stop, which causes the star to collapse on itself.

Hopefully someone with better knowledge on it can explain it better.

It's too bad we're all so afraid of bad things happening to our people and we seem to have mostly lost our sense of risk and exporation. Otherwise, we'd be out there, exploring in person.

originally posted by: Segenam
a reply to: lostbook

thanks for that ... the resulting smile from your post just lit my whole face up ...

Your most welcome. Of course the only way to prove it is to go there and scan the ocean. Until then...............

originally posted by: proob4
I'd really like the understand the science they use to determine the insides of moons, planets and stars?

I am not even convinced of what they say the Earths core is made up of?

They say the Sun is made up of hydrogen right? Why does it not just blow up at once like say the Hindenburg blimp?

From wiki.

The Sun is composed primarily of the chemical elements hydrogen and helium; they account for 74.9% and 23.8% of the mass of the Sun in the photosphere, respectively.[

WIKI the Sun

Short answer:

The sun uses nuclear fusion and the Hindenburg exploded due to combustion.

Stars can blow up, though.

See: Supernova

originally posted by: proob4
I'd really like the understand the science they use to determine the insides of moons, planets and stars?

Did you read the title post?

After sorting through more than seven years of data gathered by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, which the team plotted by hand, scientists have found that Enceladus wobbles ever so slightly as it orbits Saturn. While slight, the wobble is too large for a moon with a completely solid interior: It’s best explained by a free-floating crust that’s in contact with liquid all around

Scientists use many other methods, like a close flyby of a spacecraft past the planet or moon.

a reply to: stormcell

One question ....how does the sun have magnetic fields if it doesn't have heavier elements like nickel to create the magnetic fields we have on earth?

originally posted by: proob4
I'd really like the understand the science they use to determine the insides of moons, planets and stars?

I am not even convinced of what they say the Earths core is made up of?

They say the Sun is made up of hydrogen right? Why does it not just blow up at once like say the Hindenburg blimp?

Erm because the blimp was a chemical explosion of hydrogen and oxygen (from the atmosphere). The sun is a nuclear fusion reaction.

originally posted by: rossacus
a reply to: stormcell

One question ....how does the sun have magnetic fields if it doesn't have heavier elements like nickel to create the magnetic fields we have on earth?

...Sun may be older, than we think...they say, there's no way, that there's iron etc..but...

a reply to: xoenneox
I always found it strange cos we are taught that magnetic fields originate from metal based molten currents, yet we have a star with a magnetic field far greater in magnitude yet no supposed molten metal core? Or is their a 0.01% they don't mention in basic science classes?

originally posted by: rossacus
a reply to: xoenneox
I always found it strange cos we are taught that magnetic fields originate from metal based molten currents, yet we have a star with a magnetic field far greater in magnitude yet no supposed molten metal core? Or is their a 0.01% they don't mention in basic science classes?

Okay, there is more to this than just "no metal = no magnetic fields".

Think of plasma, which represents a huge part of the sun. Those are particles which in themselves are ionized particles, thus particles divided up upon their electric charge. Moving electrical charged particles are inducing a magnetic field (Maxwells equations). Consider magnetohydrodynamics, too. Together this gives us this

There is a magnetic field around the sun, but it does not have one north- and one south-pole, it has mutiple poles.

a reply to: ManFromEurope
Thank you. I knew the currents caused it but did not know it could be induced through charged particles. Consider myself edumacated.

Another Europa. Good stuff.

a reply to: yorkshirelad

Erm because the blimp was a chemical explosion of hydrogen and oxygen (from the atmosphere). The sun is a nuclear fusion reaction.

Actually, the reason is gravity. The mass of a star is so great that the force of its gravity counteracts the force of the fusion reaction, which would cause all that matter to explode out into space. We call that a supernova.