EVIDENCE that could point to an internal ocean in Saturn’s innermost moon has been discovered by scientists.
Experts from the Southwest Research Institute were studying the tiny moon called Mimas for different reasons when they spotted signs of an internal ocean.
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SwRI’s Dr. Alyssa Rhoden said: “If Mimas has an ocean, it represents a new class of small, ‘stealth’ ocean worlds with surfaces that do not betray the ocean’s existence.”
It’s thought that Saturn has 82 moons but some are more remarkable than others.
It’s got a big moon called Enceladus that’s been getting attention recently because methane was detected on it.
The levels of methane were consistent with that of microbes, which could either be sign of life on Enceladus or just evidence of a chemical process we don’t yet understand.
Enceladus is also thought to have an internal ocean.
Beneath the moon’s icy surface, there’s thought to be a salty subsurface ocean.
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This water bursts through the icy crust sometimes in giant plumes.
Nasa, the European Space Agency, and the Italian Space Agency sent a space probe called Cassini to dive through these plumes.
This is how large amounts of methane were detected as well as other molecules like carbon dioxide.
It’s thought there are many more worlds with oceans beneath their rocky layers in our Solar System.
This includes Jupiter’s moon Europa.
They’re referred to as Interior water ocean worlds (IWOWs).
However, Mimas the mini Saturn moon wasn’t thought to be one of them and was mostly more famous for looking like the Death Star from Star Wars.
Rhoden explained: “Because the surface of Mimas is heavily cratered, we thought it was just a frozen block of ice.
“IWOWs, such as Enceladus and Europa, tend to be fractured and show other signs of geologic activity.
“Turns out, Mimas’ surface was tricking us, and our new understanding has greatly expanded the definition of a potentially habitable world in our solar system and beyond.”
The researchers think ‘tidal heating’ within the internal ocean is keeping it from freezing but without melting the thick icy shell.
Understanding more about internal ocean worlds cold potentially help us find a habitable ocean moon one day.
Rhoden concluded: “Evaluating Mimas’ status as an ocean moon would benchmark models of its formation and evolution.
“This would help us better understand Saturn’s rings and mid-sized moons as well as the prevalence of potentially habitable ocean moons, particularly at Uranus. Mimas is a compelling target for continued investigation.”
A paper about the research has been published in the Icarus journal.
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