.

Recent Comments

    Saturn Moon tagged posts

    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...

    Read More

    Inner Complexity of Saturn Moon, Enceladus, revealed

    January 24, 2020, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Artistic representation of Enceladus's core with plumes coming from the bottom of the planet
    Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech Using new geochemical models, SwRI scientists found that CO2 in Enceladus’ ocean may be controlled by chemical reactions at the seafloor. Integrating this finding with previous discoveries of H2 and silica suggests geochemically diverse environments in the rocky core. This diversity has the potential to create energy sources that could support life.

    Enceladus’ subsurface ocean composition hints at habitable conditions. A Southwest Research Institute team developed a new geochemical model that reveals that carbon dioxide (CO2) from within Enceladus, an ocean-harboring moon of Saturn, may be controlled by chemical reactions at its seafloor...

    Read More