Below Europa's thick icy crust is a massive, global ocean where the snow floats upwards onto inverted ice peaks and submerged ravines. The bizarre underwater snow is known to occur below ice shelves on Earth, but a new study ...
Astrobiology
Aug 15, 2022
0
709
Europa is a prime candidate for life in our solar system, and its deep saltwater ocean has captivated scientists for decades. But it's enclosed by an icy shell that could be miles to tens of miles thick, making sampling it ...
Astrobiology
Apr 19, 2022
0
1547
On Jupiter's icy moon Europa, powerful eruptions may spew into space, raising questions among hopeful astrobiologists on Earth: What would blast out from miles-high plumes? Could they contain signs of extraterrestrial life? ...
Space Exploration
Nov 10, 2020
0
2401
A Brown University study provides new evidence that the icy shell of Jupiter's moon Europa may have plate tectonics similar to those on Earth. The presence of plate tectonic activity could have important implications for ...
Earth Sciences
Dec 4, 2017
0
102
Enough heat to power hydrothermal activity inside Saturn's ocean moon Enceladus for billions of years could be generated through tidal friction if the moon has a highly porous core, a new study finds, working in favour of ...
Astronomy
Nov 6, 2017
54
424
The persistence of the massive, explosive fissures on the surface of Saturn's sixth-largest moon, Enceladus—despite the moon's astoundingly frigid surface—have remained a mystery for 11 years. Researchers from Princeton ...
Space Exploration
Apr 19, 2016
4
473
The Cassini spacecraft has observed geysers erupting on Saturn's moon Enceladus since 2005, but the process that drives and sustains these eruptions has remained a mystery. Now, scientists at the University of Chicago and ...
Space Exploration
Mar 28, 2016
24
622
An analysis of gravity and topography data from Saturn's largest moon, Titan, has revealed unexpected features of the moon's outer ice shell. The best explanation for the findings, the authors said, is that Titan's ice shell ...
Space Exploration
Aug 28, 2013
2
0
In a significant finding in the search for life beyond Earth, scientists from The University of Texas at Austin and elsewhere have discovered what appears to be a body of liquid water the volume of the North American Great ...
Space Exploration
Nov 16, 2011
30
0
Saturn's moon Mimas could have grown a huge underground ocean as its orbital eccentricity decreased to its present value and caused its icy shell to melt and thin.
Planetary Sciences
Apr 15, 2024
0
90
