Scientists discussing alien life possibility at Enceladus’s Oceans – Data collected by Cassini, at last week it’s final flyby of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Enceladus has sparking the insterest of many scientists. Studies confirms Enceladus has global surface ocean, Ocean surface led possibility of alien life.
Finding ocean under surface of Enceladus was big surprise for everyone.
Curt Niebur, a program scientist in the Devision of Planetary Sciences at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Headquarters in Washington, said that before the data from Cassini, had people suggested the existence of a global ocean underneath Enceladus’ icy surface, they would have been laughed at. That is how surprising the discovery was; almost no one was expecting it.
In hopes of finding extraterrestrial life, scientists are now also looking at moons orbiting extra solar planets. If Enceladus is an indication of the possibility of life forms, then the number of habitable moons could in fact be larger than that of habitable planets, according to some scientists.
On its final flyby, Cassini was within 3,106 miles (4,998 km) from the south polar region of Enceladus.
Ever since November 1980 and August 1981 – when Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 made their flybys of Saturn – scientists have been mesmerized by the tiny moon Enceladus. The moon was embedded into Saturn’s E ring.
The data from Cassini shows that large portions of the moon’s ice surface are in fact geologically young. In February 2005, the Cassini spacecraft also discovered fissures on Enceladus’ southern polar region, through which some sort of material was being ejected. Temperatures in that area were a lot higher than expected, according to scientists.
It appears as though the plumes contain organic compounds. Based on the measurements from Cassini, the core of Enceladus is rocky. The subsurface ocean that was initially thought to be regional, also turned out to be global
Further analyses of the plumes along with chemical modelling on the subsurface ocean suggest that the water is salty and not too alkaline or too acidic to support life.
Hydrothermal activity may also be occurring where the core meets the ocean, which could suggest that there is a source of energy and nutrients that could mimic conditions of hydrothermal vents on our planet’s ocean floor – and therefore imply the existence of life.
In an interview with NASA News, Mission project manager Earl Maize says the final close flyby “elicits feelings of both sadness and triumph”. Indeed, Cassini has flown through the moon’s plume multiple times and has detected carbon-containing organic molecules, the building blocks of life as we know it.
Afterwards, NASA wants Cassini to retire quietly and observe Enceladus from a distance to its new position after the flyby. Jim resides in the San Francisco Bay area and has attended NASA Socials for the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover landing and the NASA LADEE lunar orbiter launch. They announced strong evidence for a regional subsurface sea in 2014, revising their understanding in 2015 to confirm that the moon hosts a global ocean beneath its icy crust. After spotting something gushing out of warm fractures in Enceladus’ South Pole, the spacecraft’s flight plan was altered to include 22 flybys of Saturn’s moon. According to NASA, the next closest flyby of the icy world will be more than four times farther away than the Saturday close-up. “Scientists can use this, along with estimates of how frequently impacts happen, to determine ages of surfaces of solid planets and of moons like Enceladus”, agency officials added.
“Cassini’s legacy of discoveries in the Saturn system is profound”, said Spilker. It wasn’t until Cassini arrived in 2005 that we started to get much greater detail on the surface and environment of Enceladus, which is covered in a shell of fresh, clean ice that reflects most sunlight.
“We bid a poignant goodbye to our close views of this unbelievable icy world”, Linda Spilker of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory said.
Source: albanydailystar