Scientists discovered a young liquid ocean beneath Mimas' icy surface, formed by tidal heating from Saturn's gravity, which will eventually freeze.
Scientists found that beneath the icy exterior of Mimas, a moon of Saturn, lies a vast liquid ocean. Now, the team behind this finding has discovered the mystery of its origin.
This eccentricity drives tidal heating. “Right now it is very high as compared with other active ocean moons, like neighboring Enceladus. We think that tidal heating is the heat source responsible for currently thinning the shell,” Walker continued. “Tidal heating is not free energy though so as it melts the shell, it pulls energy out of the orbit, which drops that eccentricity until it eventually circularizes it and shuts the whole thing down.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Orbital eccentricity may have led to young underground ocean on Saturn's moon MimasSaturn's moon Mimas could have grown a huge underground ocean as its orbital eccentricity decreased to its present value and caused its icy shell to melt and thin.
Read more »
Saturn's 'Death Star' moon Mimas may have gotten huge buried ocean from ringed planet's powerful pullRobert Lea is a science journalist in the U.K. whose articles have been published in Physics World, New Scientist, Astronomy Magazine, All About Space, Newsweek and ZME Science. He also writes about science communication for Elsevier and the European Journal of Physics. Rob holds a bachelor of science degree in physics and astronomy from the U.K.
Read more »
James Webb telescope to zoom in on Uranus and Saturn in study of mysterious aurorasRobert Lea is a science journalist in the U.K. who specializes in science, space, physics, astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology, quantum mechanics and technology. Rob's articles have been published in Physics World, New Scientist, Astronomy Magazine, All About Space and ZME Science.
Read more »
Saturn's moon Enceladus top target for ESAA fresh, icy crust hides a deep, enigmatic ocean. Plumes of water burst through cracks in the ice, shooting into space. An intrepid lander collects samples and analyzes them for hints of life.
Read more »
Europe Has Big Plans for Saturn's Moon EnceladusEvery moon in the Solar System is interesting in some way. But the ocean moons demand to be explored, none more than Enceladus.
Read more »
NASA Testing Snake Robot for Exploring Saturn's MoonScience and Technology News and Videos
Read more »