Tag: Saturn
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When Water Meets Oil: Titan’s Exotic Chemistry Opens a Solar System Frontier
The Big Idea: Water and Oil On Titan On Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, the cold surface and strange liquids create an environment that challenges our Earth-centric ideas about chemistry. Titan is famous for its methane-ethane lakes and rivers. But beneath the ice shell may lie a hidden reality: water ice behaving like rock, and an…
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Can Radiolysis Explain Material in and Around Enceladus’ South Polar Plume? Insights from Ion Irradiation of Ice Analogues
Introduction: Probing Enceladus’ Radiation Chemistry Saturn’s magnetosphere bathes Enceladus in a harsh radiation field, continually delivering water-group ions and energetic particles to the moon’s icy surface. A crucial question in astrobiology and planetary science is whether the materials observed in Enceladus’ south polar plume—and on its surrounding terrain—are remnants of a subsurface ocean or products…
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Ion Irradiation Studies Of Enceladus Ice Analogues: Can Radiolysis Account For Material In And Around The South Polar Plume?
Introduction Enceladus, one of Saturn’s most intriguing moons, hosts a dynamic south polar plume that ejects icy particles and vapor into space. The surrounding environment is dominated by Saturn’s magnetosphere, a source of trapped plasma and energetic ions that continuously irradiate the moon’s surface. A growing question in astrobiology and planetary science is whether radiolysis—chemical…
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Deuterated Water Ice on Saturn’s Satellites: Unveiling D/H Ratios
New JWST Detections Reveal Deuterium-Enriched Ice on Saturnian Moons The deuterium-to-hydrogen (D/H) ratio in water ice is a key tracer of how and where planetary bodies acquired their water. A recent study using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) reports robust spectroscopic detections of the 4.14 μm O-D stretch absorption on mid-sized Saturnian satellites. This…
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Hidden Ocean? New Research Suggests Saturn’s Moon Mimas Might Harbor a Subsurface Sea
Scientists Hint at a Young Subsurface Ocean Beneath Mimas’ Cratered Surface Saturn’s small, cratered moon Mimas could be hiding a surprisingly young subsurface ocean beneath its icy crust. Recent thermal and orbital modeling, presented at a major planetary science conference, suggests liquid water may lie 12 to 19 miles (20 to 30 kilometers) beneath the…
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Mimas Ocean World? Hidden Subsurface Ocean on Saturn Moon
Unveiling a Hidden Ocean Beneath an Icy World Saturn’s small, cratered moon Mimas has long been dismissed as a frozen relic, its surface pockmarked by impact craters. Yet new research using advanced thermal and orbital models is prompting scientists to rethink what lies beneath that battered exterior. The findings point to a plausible, relatively young…
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Mimas Likely Hides a Young Ocean Beneath Its Ice
New Findings Reframe Mimas as an Ocean World Candidate Saturn’s small, cratered moon Mimas has long been dismissed as a frozen relic, best known for its prominent Herschel Crater. Yet a growing body of research is challenging that view. Recent thermal and orbital models indicate that a young subsurface ocean could lie beneath 12–19 miles…
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Does Saturn’s Moon Mimas Hide a Subsurface Ocean? A New Case for a Young Ocean
Introduction: A developing case for an ocean on Mimas Saturn’s small but storied moon Mimas may be harboring a subsurface ocean beneath a thick icy shell. Recent analyses, built on data from NASA’s Cassini mission and advanced modeling, suggest that the moon’s crust could be thin enough in certain regions to host liquid water not…
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Mimas Ocean: Evidence for a Subsurface Sea in Saturn’s Moon
The Case for a Newborn Ocean on Mimas The idea that Saturn’s moon Mimas might host a subsurface ocean has moved from speculation to a serious scientific hypothesis. Researchers analyzing Cassini data and applying models of ice-shell behavior found that Mimas could possess an ocean buried under 12 to 19 miles (20–30 kilometers) of solid…
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Supermoon on the Horizon: How Australians Can Experience Tuesday’s Harvest Moon
What makes this week’s full moon a harvest moon and a true supermoon Australia is set to witness a striking celestial event as a harvest moon takes center stage in the night sky. The harvest moon is the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox, a name rooted in traditional farming calendars in North America.…