Tag: Tidal heating
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Io’s Largest Volcanic Eruption Captured by NASA’s Juno
Introduction: A Moment in Solar System History In a milestone for planetary science, NASA’s Juno spacecraft has captured what researchers are calling the largest volcanic eruption ever observed on Jupiter’s moon Io. The event featured simultaneous eruptions across an astonishing 65,000 square kilometers (approximately 40,400 square miles), signaling a volume and scale of activity unlike…
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Magma Ocean Waves and Thermal Variability on Lava Worlds
Understanding Lava Worlds and Their Extreme Environments Lava worlds are among the most extreme exoplanets scientists study. These rocky planets orbit very close to their stars, where intense irradiation melts the dayside crust into a persistent magma ocean. In such worlds, the surface is a dynamic boundary between molten rock and the cooler, partially solidified…
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Europa’s Quiet Ocean: What a Lack of Tectonics Means for Life Searches
Europa’s Ocean: A Quiet Floor Could Change the Habitability Picture Jupiter’s moon Europa has long tantalized scientists as a prime candidate for life beyond Earth. Beneath its icy shell lies a global salty ocean, kept liquid by tidal forces generated by Jupiter’s gravity. The appealing prospect has driven multiple missions and a surge of hypotheses…
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Io’s Hidden Heat: Jupiter’s Volcanic Moon Reveals Surprising Heat Levels
Io’s Fiery Heart Revealed by Juno Data Jupiter’s moon Io has long held a reputation as the solar system’s most volcanic world. Now, new analyses of data from NASA’s Juno spacecraft suggest that Io may be hundreds of times hotter at its surface than scientists previously estimated. The findings, while nuanced, point to a moon…
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Io’s Heat Surprise: Jupiter’s Volcanic Moon Warmer Than Thought
Io’s Hidden Heat: A New Look at Jupiter’s Volcanic Moon For decades, Jupiter’s moon Io has been recognized as the most volcanically active body in our solar system. Famed for hundreds of active volcanoes and lava flows, Io has long intrigued scientists curious about how such a small world can sustain so much geological pizzazz.…
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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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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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Could Saturn’s Moon Mimas Hide a Newborn Ocean? A Mission in the Making
Is Mimas Hosting a Newborn Ocean? Saturn’s moon Mimas, long famous for its ominous “Death Star” crater Herschel, may be hiding a newborn ocean beneath its icy shell. New analyses of Cassini data, combined with advances in modeling tidal heating, suggest that the moon’s ice shell could have melted recently enough to form a liquid…
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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…