Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Enceladus Evidence

New evidence suggests Saturn's moon Enceladus may indeed have an ocean under its surface of thick ice. While flying through plumes of water vapor that erupt from Enceladus' southern polar regions, the Cassini spacecraft discovered negatively charged ions of water vapor. On Earth, such ions are only found in association with moving liquid water, as in ocean waves.

Cassini also found negatively charged ions of hydrocarbons in the plumes. Put an ocean of liquid water, an energy source to keep that ocean liquid, and hydrocarbons all in the same place, and you have an excellent place to search for life.

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