Your current location:HOME >politics >Astronomers find vast underground ocean under Saturn's Death Star 正文
TIME:2024-05-21 14:55:02 Source: Internet compilationEdit:politics
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronomers have found the best evidence yet of a vast, young ocean bene
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronomers have found the best evidence yet of a vast, young ocean beneath the icy exterior of Saturn’s Death Star lookalike mini moon.
The French-led team analyzed changes in Mimas’ orbit and rotation and reported Wednesday that a hidden ocean 12 to 18 miles (20 to 30 kilometers) beneath the frozen crust was more likely than an elongated rocky core. The scientists based their findings on observations by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, which observed Saturn and its more than 140 moons for more than a decade before diving through the ringed planet’s atmosphere in 2017 and burning up.
Barely 250 miles (400 kilometers) in diameter, the heavily cratered moon lacks the fractures and geysers — typical signs of subsurface activity — of Saturn’s Enceladus and Jupiter’s Europa.
“Mimas was probably the most unlikely place to look for a global ocean — and liquid water more generally,” co-author Valery Lainey of the Paris Observatory said in an email. “So that looks like a potential habitable world. But nobody knows how much time is needed for life to arise.”
Celebrity birthdays for the week of May 262024-05-21 14:52
US energy panel approves rule to expand transmission of renewable power2024-05-21 14:40
Jordan Leasure has become a high2024-05-21 14:34
After a rookie renaissance the past couple years, some top prospects have struggled this season2024-05-21 14:14
The fightback begins: Boss of London's Queen Mary University tells pro2024-05-21 14:12
Plans unveiled for memorial honoring victims of racist mass shooting at Buffalo supermarket2024-05-21 13:45
To invest in China is to invest in the future, says L'Oreal executive2024-05-21 13:40
Prime Minister Modi files his nomination to run for a third term in India's general election2024-05-21 12:50
Philippines blames China for loss of giant clams in disputed shoal and urges environmental inquiry2024-05-21 12:46
Lisa Bluder retires after Clark2024-05-21 12:34
With Djokovic awaiting the winner, Murray trails Hanfmann at rain2024-05-21 14:24
Lisa Bluder retires after Clark2024-05-21 13:55
Timothy Spall, 67, receives his first BAFTA as fans hail 'heart2024-05-21 13:49
Nevada Supreme Court rejects teachers union2024-05-21 13:25
Celebrity birthdays for the week of May 262024-05-21 13:20
California moves closer to requiring new pollutant2024-05-21 13:15
Kate Martin one of four second round WNBA draft picks to make opening day rosters2024-05-21 12:38
Ukrainian schoolchildren head underground in bomb2024-05-21 12:36
Medics remove 150 MAGGOTS from a woman's mouth after dental procedure left her with rotting tissue2024-05-21 12:29
Sarah Ferguson dons traditional Bavarian dirndl to attend her nephew Seamus's wedding in Germany2024-05-21 12:18