Enceladus, moon of Saturn
 |
| Enceladus, with Titan in the background (NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI) |
Enceladus, the 6th largest moon of Saturn, brightly shines in front of Saturn's rings. The camera on the NASA Cassini spacecraft captured this image in March of 2012. This photograph was taken by Cassini approximately 600,000 miles (1 million km) from the Enceladus. In the distance, Saturn's largest moon, Titan, hovers behind the rings. Covered in ice, Enceladus reflects around 99% of all light: more light than most any other solid object in our solar system! Beneath the surface of this icy moon, oceans of liquid water churn. Geysers of ice, water, vapor, and debris spew along faults near the south pole.
Enceladus is much smaller than our moon, at just over 300 miles (504 km) diameter. The Cassini mission showed us that Enceladus is a rich moon, with energy, nutrients, and organic molecules to spare. These are all features needed to support extraterrestrial life. Other moons in the Solar System, such as Europa, an Ice Moon of Jupiter, may harbor liquid water. On Europa, the water may be buried deeper beneath the surface and less likely to support life. However, Europa is one of the most likely sites to support extraterrestrial life. Life may exist around hydrothermal vents beneath Europa. If it is possible that life could be found under Europa's dense icy crust, then it must be even more likely that life could exist on Enceladus. Either way, future humans can certainly consider these Ice Moons as possible sites for colonization either permanently or temporarily while planning other expeditions.
No comments:
Post a Comment