There could be life here... right in our very own Solar System.
about the tantalizing hypothesis centered on Saturn's smallest and innermost moon, which she jokingly admitted looks "much like the Death Star from Star Wars" because of Herschel, its huge impact crater.If scientists can prove that Mimas has an ocean, it would represent "a new class of small, 'stealth' ocean worlds with surfaces that do not betray the ocean's existence," Rhoden said in the release.
Rhoden worked with planetary researcher Adeene Denton, formerly a Perdue graduate student who now is getting her doctorate at the senior scientist's onetime employer, the University of Arizona — and both admit that there's still a lot left to figure out, especially if they are able to further bolster the Mimas ocean theory.
"If Mimas has an ocean today, the ice shell has been thinning since the formation of Herschel, which could also explain the lack of fractures on Mimas," Denton said in the release. "If Mimas is an emerging ocean world, that places important constraints on the formation, evolution and habitability of all of the mid-sized moons of Saturn."
A random Saturnian moon may seem like a strange place for habitation, but with recent forays in habitable exoplanet research centering on bodies of water as homes for potential life, the discovery of an ocean on that distant celestial body within our Solar System could be massive.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Green Comet Last in Solar System 50,000 Years Ago Spotted Over Long IslandDid you see it? A comet last in the solar system about 50,000 years ago was visible in the pre-dawn sky Thursday for intrepid Americans who likely only needed a telescope or even just binoculars to catch a glimpse of its green glory. The comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF), a name that NASA acknowledges is a mouthful, hit its closest point to Earth on Feb….
Read more »
Soon Every Spacecraft can Navigate the Solar System Autonomously Using PulsarsIf you want to know where you are in space, you’d better bring along a map. But it’s a little more complicated than riding shotgun on a family road trip. Spacecraft navigation beyond Earth orbit is usually carried out by mission control. A series of radio communication arrays across the planet, known as the Deep … Continue reading 'Soon Every Spacecraft can Navigate the Solar System Autonomously Using Pulsars'
Read more »
Isotope Analysis of Primitive Meteorites Reveals Solar System Formed From “Poorly Mixed Cake Batter”New work reveals Earth’s potassium arrived by meteoritic delivery service. Earth’s potassium arrived by meteoritic delivery service finds new research led by Carnegie’s Nicole Nie and Da Wang. Their work, published on January 26 in the journal Science, shows that some primitive meteorites contai
Read more »
Astronomers Find Rare Star System That Will Trigger a KilonovaThe binary system will end in a massive, gold-forming explosion.
Read more »
Astronomers find rare star system that will lead to gold-producing explosionAstronomers at the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab announced the first confirmed detection of a star system that will one day form a kilonova explosion.
Read more »
A One-in-Ten-Billion Binary Star System – First Kilonova Progenitor System IdentifiedAstronomers using the SMARTS 1.5-meter Telescope uncover a one-in-ten-billion binary star system. Astronomers using the SMARTS 1.5-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, a Program of NSF's NOIRLab, have uncovered the first example of a phenomenally rare type of binar
Read more »