Mallika Dureja
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NASA’s Cassini spacecraft recently caught a glimpse of Enceladus, an icy moon of Saturn that hides an ocean beneath its frozen surface. When you look at the beautiful picture, the tiny moon’s cracked surface might look like rivers cut into it, but scientists think they are just heated spots in the crust where ice water and gases rise from the ocean floor and feed Saturn’s E ring.
There is a chance that some of these cracks have hydrothermal vents at the bottom that lead to the ocean floor.
What is Saturn’s moon- Enceladus?
Enceladus, Saturn’s moon, is the sixth largest in size and the 19th largest in the Solar System, for those who don’t know. Enceladus is one of the most reflective things in the Solar System because its surface is made of pure ice.
Enceladus is cooler than a substance that absorbs light and gets to 198 degrees Celsius at noon because it reflects light. Even though Enceladus is small, its surface has a wide range of features, from old areas with a lot of craters to new areas where technology has changed the shape of the land.
In an elliptical orbit, the moon moves away from Saturn at a speed of about 148,000 miles per hour. Because of this, Saturn always sees the same side of the moon. Because of this, the average temperature is –330°F.
Also read: Indian scientists make the first-ever discovery of its sort on Mars.
Why is Enceladus in the news?
Scientists are looking for life outside of Earth, so the news about Enceladus is important. While Enceladus’s chemistry, huge oceans, and hot core are some of the things that make it an interesting target, it is also a very small planet.
According to reports, scientists have recently thought of a way to search for life on the moon’s icy surface without having to land a space probe on the moon.
NASA Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Cassini spacecraft
MORE: https://t.co/6QPxk1TKMg pic.twitter.com/67DXpsgk8x— Black Hole (@konstructivizm) January 12, 2023
