A satellite of Saturn has an ocean with liquid water hidden under the ice – scientists
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Saturn’s moon Mimas has an ocean of liquid water hidden beneath its icy, cratered outer shell.
In a study published in the journal Nature, astronomers said that data on the rotational motion and orbit of Mimas, obtained by the Cassini spacecraft, confirm the presence of an ocean of liquid water beneath a layer of ice 20-30 kilometers thick.
Scientists say that this ocean probably formed less than 25 million years ago, writes Reuters.
The researchers say that this discovery makes Mimas a place to study the conditions that could have led to the formation of life, because the first living organisms on Earth arose in the primordial seas of our planet billions of years ago.
| Mimas. Photo: NASA |
“It was the least likely place in the solar system to find liquid water. The satellite looks old and inactive, it has a huge number of craters. Until now, nothing has given away the existence of an ocean here“, said astronomer from the Paris Observatory Valerie Laney, lead author of the study.
He also added that Mimas is the smallest of the five satellites of the solar system, on which the existence of underground oceans has been proven.
This also means that there is a powerful heat source inside Mimasu that “turned” the ice into an ocean. Liquid water in Mimas makes up more than half of the total volume of the satellite. The fact that water is in contact with the rocky core of Mimas could “pave the way for life”, the scientists add.
Even if Mimas has the basic conditions for life – heat, water and organic compounds – it does not mean that it is there, because its ocean is quite young.
“However, no one knows how long it takes for life to arise in the right environment. Mimas may offer a unique opportunity to explore the first stage of life’s development“, – says planetary scientist and study co-author Gabriel Toby.
Mimas is the seventh largest moon of Saturn. Its diameter is approximately 400 kilometers. Mimas’ biggest feature is Herschel Crater, which stretches a third of the way across its surface.
It will be recalled that the Juno spacecraft took an image of the Io satellite of the planet Jupiter. Some scientists believe that there is a magma ocean beneath the surface of Io. Others think that volcanoes are “controlled” by a superheated core made of solid metal.
Read also: It is in a state of unusual calm for it: NASA showed a photo of Jupiter’s satellite
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