One of Saturn's moons Enceladus possible life?
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One of Saturn's moons Enceladus possible life?
http://www.popularmechanics.com/spac...rn-moon-ocean/
So we have surmised it has a warm water ocean, hydrothermal activity and many of the minerals we know helped form life on our planet.
We are getting closer every day to discovering an extraterrestrial species. Cool sh*t!
Move over, Europa. It looks as though the most life-friendly habitat ever discovered outside of Earth is Enceladus—Saturn's sixth-largest moon.
Astrophysicists working with NASA's Saturn sweeping Cassini spacecraft have just announced that Enceladus has a warm ocean at its southern pole with ongoing hydrothermal activity—the first ever discovered outside of Earth. This new research, published in the journal Nature, builds upon last year's discovery of the moon's 6-mile-deep ocean, which is also believed to contain many of the chemicals commonly associated with life.
"We now have very strong evidence that there is a hot hydrothermal environment at the base of Enceladus's ocean, perhaps like those where we believe life began on Earth," says Jonathan Lunine, a planetary scientist at Cornell University who works with the Cassini spacecraft but was not involved in the new research. "This is yet another discovery in a series of really remarkable findings that have come one by one, to tell us that this may be the place to go look for life in the outer solar system."
Astrophysicists working with NASA's Saturn sweeping Cassini spacecraft have just announced that Enceladus has a warm ocean at its southern pole with ongoing hydrothermal activity—the first ever discovered outside of Earth. This new research, published in the journal Nature, builds upon last year's discovery of the moon's 6-mile-deep ocean, which is also believed to contain many of the chemicals commonly associated with life.
"We now have very strong evidence that there is a hot hydrothermal environment at the base of Enceladus's ocean, perhaps like those where we believe life began on Earth," says Jonathan Lunine, a planetary scientist at Cornell University who works with the Cassini spacecraft but was not involved in the new research. "This is yet another discovery in a series of really remarkable findings that have come one by one, to tell us that this may be the place to go look for life in the outer solar system."
So we have surmised it has a warm water ocean, hydrothermal activity and many of the minerals we know helped form life on our planet.
We are getting closer every day to discovering an extraterrestrial species. Cool sh*t!
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Can you imagine if there are intelligent extraterrestrials on Enceladus? What their physiology and perception of the scope of reality would be limited to is very interesting.
It's unlikely that they would have eyes that see visible light because there won't be any. If vision did develop it would probably be in the far infrared wavelengths, as no other wavelengths would be present in significant enough quantities to justify development.
Assuming that they have not developed drilling equipment in their reality the universe would consist of rock at the bottom, going an unknown distance down and ice at the top, going an unknown distance up. They would probably assume these distances were infinite. If we were to drill down and meet them it would be the equivalent of extraterrestrials drilling up through the ground for us and informing us that there is an entire universe at the center of the Earth.
It's unlikely that they would have eyes that see visible light because there won't be any. If vision did develop it would probably be in the far infrared wavelengths, as no other wavelengths would be present in significant enough quantities to justify development.
Assuming that they have not developed drilling equipment in their reality the universe would consist of rock at the bottom, going an unknown distance down and ice at the top, going an unknown distance up. They would probably assume these distances were infinite. If we were to drill down and meet them it would be the equivalent of extraterrestrials drilling up through the ground for us and informing us that there is an entire universe at the center of the Earth.
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I can say with a fair amount of certainty that if life is found in our solar system it will not be of an intelligence even close to our own. Now to find fish or even early-evolution arthropods would be flat out amazing! That in my book would be as spectacular as as finding ET. Especially just being on a moon, not the planet itself.
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No intelligent life in our own solar system? Possibly, but there is absolutely no way at all that we are the only intelligent life in this universe. It's simply 100% impossible.
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Not impossible, but completely improbable. If there is indeed life of any form, even single celled, on another body in our own solar system, then it's pretty solid evidence that even as an advanced species we mustn't be alone. We may know very soon too. It's an exciting time to be alive
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I'm not saying there is sentient life on Enceladus, just imagining what their frame of existence would be if there were.
I think there's enough evidence to say it's most likely true that there is a significantly large body of water beneath the ice on Enceladus. Because the heat comes from tidal forces it's likely that at least some of the water has remained liquid for a long time. On Earth everywhere we look there is life. Everywhere from deep underground to the bottom of the ocean to under ice caps to the upper atmosphere. I personally believe that we will find simple life on the majority of solid bodies in the solar system that are above freezing even some of the time or only in select areas.
I would say it's likely even if life never developed independently in these places. We already know of several microbes that can survive undamaged in space. In the billions of years since life developed on Earth I would expect that some of these would have hitched a ride after an impact and survived.
I think there's enough evidence to say it's most likely true that there is a significantly large body of water beneath the ice on Enceladus. Because the heat comes from tidal forces it's likely that at least some of the water has remained liquid for a long time. On Earth everywhere we look there is life. Everywhere from deep underground to the bottom of the ocean to under ice caps to the upper atmosphere. I personally believe that we will find simple life on the majority of solid bodies in the solar system that are above freezing even some of the time or only in select areas.
I would say it's likely even if life never developed independently in these places. We already know of several microbes that can survive undamaged in space. In the billions of years since life developed on Earth I would expect that some of these would have hitched a ride after an impact and survived.
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^ depends on if you believe in billions of years, or not.
I wonder, if the moon IS hot inside, why. It could be from organic chemical reactions, sure. It could also be from some sort of radioactive decay, and the water around the hot core is shielding the radiation from escaping to space where we could see it.
...
then we turn the moon into a fueling station, and harvest it for fuel on long trips around the neighborhood.
I wonder, if the moon IS hot inside, why. It could be from organic chemical reactions, sure. It could also be from some sort of radioactive decay, and the water around the hot core is shielding the radiation from escaping to space where we could see it.
...
then we turn the moon into a fueling station, and harvest it for fuel on long trips around the neighborhood.
