Now, the most recent flyby of the hazy moon has revealed a distinct bright spot in the second-largest sea near the moon’s north pole. The spot appears to suddenly disappear almost as soon as it appears in the maps.Dubbed the “magic island,” this geologic mystery may be best explained by waves or bubbles floating on the surface of these methane lakes, according to the new study published in Nature Geoscience this week.“This discovery tells us that the liquids in Titan’s northern hemisphere are not simply stagnant and unchanging, but rather that changes do occur,” said the lead author of the study, Jason Hofgartner, a Cornell University graduate student.“We don’t know precisely what caused this ‘magic island’ to appear, but we’d like to study it further.”This suggests to planetary scientists that what we may be witnessing are the first hints of Titan’s seas reacting to the changing seasons from spring to summer, just like what happens on Earth.Windy weather may very well be kicking up waves on Titan. To Cassini’s radar, the results look like ghostly islands. Alternately, gas bubbles may be breaching the lake surface.
Sand dunes have been found in just a few places throughout the solar system - on Venus, Mars, Earth and Titan - but Titan is the only moon where dunes have been discovered.The sand that makes up Titan's dunes is not made of silicates like the sands we find on Earth, however. Instead, scientists believe it is made of hydrocarbons, and may include particles of water ice.
But Cornell's Lunine says the question as to whether Enceladus's ocean does or doesn't contain life is one we could answer, and soon. All of the new information we're gleaning about Enceladus (and all of Saturn's moons) comes from the Cassini spacecraft, which was developed in the late '80s and early '90s. Despite carrying outdated tech and instruments, it's revolutionizing the way we think about the possibility of life in other parts of the solar system. Lunine is currently working on a proposal for an update to the Cassini mission, using a new spacecraft with both modern day technology and specialized machinery designed to seek out the bio-signs of life."If we go back to Enceladus and build upon the Cassini results with the instruments of today, the short answer is, we know that we'll be able to look for life frozen in the [geyser] particles, and really nail this habitability question," Lunine says.
QuoteBut Cornell's Lunine says the question as to whether Enceladus's ocean does or doesn't contain life is one we could answer, and soon. All of the new information we're gleaning about Enceladus (and all of Saturn's moons) comes from the Cassini spacecraft, which was developed in the late '80s and early '90s. Despite carrying outdated tech and instruments, it's revolutionizing the way we think about the possibility of life in other parts of the solar system. Lunine is currently working on a proposal for an update to the Cassini mission, using a new spacecraft with both modern day technology and specialized machinery designed to seek out the bio-signs of life."If we go back to Enceladus and build upon the Cassini results with the instruments of today, the short answer is, we know that we'll be able to look for life frozen in the [geyser] particles, and really nail this habitability question," Lunine says.He's referring to this Discovery mission proposal: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/opag/feb2015/presentations/18_OPAG_2015_Lunine.pdfhttp://www.popularmechanics.com/space/deep-space/a14507/enceladus-saturn-moon-ocean/
Quote from: Star One on 03/11/2015 10:09 pmQuoteBut Cornell's Lunine says the question as to whether Enceladus's ocean does or doesn't contain life is one we could answer, and soon. All of the new information we're gleaning about Enceladus (and all of Saturn's moons) comes from the Cassini spacecraft, which was developed in the late '80s and early '90s. Despite carrying outdated tech and instruments, it's revolutionizing the way we think about the possibility of life in other parts of the solar system. Lunine is currently working on a proposal for an update to the Cassini mission, using a new spacecraft with both modern day technology and specialized machinery designed to seek out the bio-signs of life."If we go back to Enceladus and build upon the Cassini results with the instruments of today, the short answer is, we know that we'll be able to look for life frozen in the [geyser] particles, and really nail this habitability question," Lunine says.He's referring to this Discovery mission proposal: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/opag/feb2015/presentations/18_OPAG_2015_Lunine.pdfhttp://www.popularmechanics.com/space/deep-space/a14507/enceladus-saturn-moon-ocean/
I'm really interested to learn what could be driving Enceladus's activity. It's a small object and it shouldn't be experiencing strong tidal effects the way Io and Europa do with Jupiter.
But while Hsu says Enceladus looks tantalizingly habitable, it's not clear whether life could (or does) exist on the moon. "An important consideration is the timescale of the Enceladus's ocean's hydrothermal activities," Hsu says. That is, we just don't know how long Enceladus's hydrothermal activity has gone on. Unlike thermal activity on Earth, which is powered by our hot, churning core, Enceladus's heat is created by gravitational friction from the pull of Saturn and its other moons.