For those who don´t know, Enceladus is the 6th biggest moon of Saturn. Recent observations have discovered cracks on the icy surface. So why do astronomers care if it got cracks? Because it means there is movement.
If there is movement, there must be some kind of energy.
And why is that important?
Because there are three major ingredients for a moon or planet to have life.
1- Liquid water
2- Source of energy
3- Right chemicals ingredients
Underneath the icy crust, Enceladus has an ocean that covers the whole moon. A probe discover that it has salty water. Great! We have the first ingredient. The moon also has a rocky surface beneath the ocean.
Second ingredient, source of energy. There are plumes on the south pole, and there are new cracks on the icy surface (these last ones could be caused by Saturn´s gravity). Now, we know there is movement. That´s right, movement equals energy.
The last ingredient is chemicals; thanks to the probe, they also know that there is hydrogen which is a good chemical to get life. Which makes scientist think that there might be microbiological life on Enceladus.
Why do scientists get excited about these things? Because it would mean we are not the only ones in the universe.
The universe is enormous, surely there must be life somewhere else.
Some other interesting details:
Discover: 1789 by William Herschel
Orbital length: 31.9 hrs.
Day length: 31.9 hrs.
It is 505km/ 314miles across.
Enceladus always keeps the same face towards Saturn (like we only see the same face of the Moon), and it is within Saturn´s E ring.
I hope you enjoyed the post!
info & photos from:
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