Salt in ice plume on Enceladus points to presence of liquid ocean
April 30th, 2009 - 12:44 pm ICT by ANILondon, April 30 (ANI): Scientists, studying measurements made by Cassini spacecraft, have found salt in the ice plumes that bloom above Saturn’s moon Enceladus, which suggest the presence of a liquid ocean on the satellite.
The Cassini spacecraft flew through a plume on October 9, 2008, and measured the molecular weight of chemicals in the ice.
According to a report in New Scientist, Frank Postberg of the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, Germany, and colleagues, found traces of sodium in the form of salt and sodium bicarbonate.
The chemicals would have originated in the rocky core of Enceladus, so to reach a plume they must have leached from the core via liquid water.
Observations from Earth in 2007 spotted no sign of sodium, casting doubt on such a subsurface sea.
Although the salt could have been leached out by an ancient ocean which since froze solid, that freezing process would concentrate most of the salt very far from the surface of the moon’s ice, according to Julie Castillo of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
“It is easier to imagine that the salts are present in a liquid ocean below the surface,” she said. “That’s why this detection, if confirmed, is very important,” she added. (ANI)
- Saturnian moon may have fizzy ocean capable of harbouring life - Jan 29, 2011
- Saturn's moon Enceladus may host a salty ocean - Jun 25, 2009
- Five places where life may exist in solar system - Mar 02, 2012
- Cassini finds new evidence for Enceladus hiding water beneath icy skin - Feb 09, 2010
- NASA spacecraft makes deepest dive yet into Saturn moon's jets to find life - Nov 03, 2009
- 50 percent of plume shooting out of geysers on Enceladus could be ice - Dec 21, 2009
- Oxygen atmosphere found on Saturn's moon - Nov 26, 2010
- Tiger stripes on Enceladus a result of its unusual chemical composition - Jul 16, 2009
- Water found on Jupiter moon - Nov 17, 2011
- NASA's Cassini spots possible ice volcano on Saturn's moon - Dec 15, 2010
- Titan shaped by weather, not ice volcanoes - Apr 10, 2011
- NASA's Cassini finds plethora of plumes and hotspots at Enceladus - Feb 24, 2010
- Saturn's rings formed by destruction of Titan-sized moon - Oct 06, 2010
- NASA's Cassini spacecraft captures dramatic views of Saturn's 2nd largest moon - Dec 22, 2010
- Enceladus Spits Fumes, Scientists Awestruck - Feb 25, 2010
Tags: ancient ocean, cassini spacecraft, freezing process, heidelberg germany, jet propulsion laboratory, julie castillo, liquid ocean, liquid water, max planck, max planck institute, molecular weight of chemicals, moon enceladus, nasa, new scientist, nuclear physics, pasadena california, plume, rocky core, sodium bicarbonate, surface of the moon
