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    Mimas’ surprise: Tiny Moon holds Young Ocean beneath Icy Shell

    February 9, 2024, Categories  Uncategorized

    Mimas' surprise: Tiny moon holds young ocean beneath icy shell
    Mimas measurements and ocean models. The amplitude of libration in longitude ϕs and periapsis drift variation Δϖ for different internal structure models with an ocean. The colors represent the thickness of the ice crust hs. The gray areas correspond to the measured libration amplitude and perihelion longitude variation. The dispersion represents sensitivity to the crustal polar and equatorial flattenings (see additional tests in Methods). Credit: Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06975-9

    Hidden beneath the heavily cratered surface of Mimas, one of Saturn’s smallest moons lies a secret: a global ocean of liquid water. This astonishing discovery, led by Dr...

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    Webb Telescope finds Towering Plume of Water escaping from one of Saturn’s Moons

    May 30, 2023, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Courtesy of NASA/ESA/CSA/Alyssa Pagan (STScI)/Geronimo Villanueva (NASA-GSFC) SwRI contributed to new Cycle 1 JWST findings that show the plume of water escaping from Saturn’s moon Enceladus extends 6,000 miles or more than 40 times the moon’s size. In light of this discovery, SwRI’s Dr. Christopher Glein was awarded a NASA JWST Cycle 2 allocation to study the plume as well as the icy surface of Enceladus, to better understand the potential habitability of this ocean world.

    Two Southwest Research Institute scientists were part of a James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) team that observed a towering plume of water vapor more than 6,000 miles long—roughly the distance from the U.S. to Japan—spewing from the surface of Saturn’s moon, Enceladus...

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    How one of Saturn’s Moons Ejects Particles from Oceans Beneath its Surface

    February 28, 2023, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Enceladus, the sixth largest of Saturn’s moons, is known for spraying out tiny icy silica particles — so many of them that the particles are a key component of the second outermost ring around Saturn. Scientists have not known how that happens or how long the process takes. A study now shows that tidal heating in Enceladus’ core creates currents that transport the silica, which is likely released by deep-sea hydrothermal vents, over the course of just a few months.

    Although it is relatively small, Enceladus — the sixth largest of Saturn’s 83 moons — has been considered by astronomers to be one of the more compelling bodies in our solar system.

    Enceladus stands apart from other celestial bodies because of both its appearance and its behavior...

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    Saturn moon, Enceladus, could support life in its Subsurface Ocean

    December 18, 2020, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Courtesy of Southwest Research Institute This figure illustrates a cross-section of Enceladus, showing a summary of the processes SwRI scientists modeled in the Saturn moon. Oxidants produced in the surface ice when water molecules are broken apart by radiation can combine with reductants produced by hydrothermal activity and other water-rock reactions, creating an energy source for potential life in the ocean.

    Using data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, scientists at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) modeled chemical processes in the subsurface ocean of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. The studies indicate the possibility that a varied metabolic menu could support a potentially diverse microbial community in the liquid water ocean beneath the moon’s icy facade.

    Prior to its deorbit in Sep...

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