Water water everywhere

a closer look at our solar system
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    everyone wants to know if life exists outside of earth...

    New findings have made us one step closer to finding out

     So, where was water found?

This previous week, a group of scientists discovered hydrothermal vents on Enceladus, Saturn's sixth largest moon. With temperatures exceeding 194 degrees Fahrenheit, scientists are extremely befuddled. An under-ice ocean was also found on Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon discovered by Galileo Galilei (Chapter 7, Slide 12).

    Discovered... But How?

    The hubble telescope, of course!

   As mentioned in class, this multi-billion dollar telescope was launched in 1990
   and has been extremely helpful in discovering many astronomical breakthroughs.


   NASA's Cassini spacecraft also aided in the
   findings on Enceladus. This unmanned
   spacecraft has been traveling Saturn's
   orbit since 2004.

    It's Getting Hot In Here

      So take off all your astronomical gear!

   the water on enceladus is extremely hot - but how is this possible?

With Saturn and its moons being roughly 890 million miles away from the sun, it's difficult for scientists to understand how the water can be at such high temperatures. The water that was discovered is predicted to have a pH ranging from 8.5 to 10.5 with temperatures exceeding 194 degrees Fahrenheit. One plausible theory is that there is a chemical reaction occurring known as serpentinization, providing heat throughout the oceans. However, with Saturn being 95 times Earth's mass, the primary reason for these high temperatures are most likely due to the significant tidal forces exerted on Enceladus.

auroras on jupiter?

an essential piece to the puzzle

Magnetic field

Unlike most planets and moons, Jupiter and Ganymede have particular strong magnetic fields. With 70 percent of Jupiter's radius filled with liquid metallic hydrogen and a relatively fast rotation, Jupiter's magnetic field is 20,000 times stronger than Earth's. Ganymede's magnetic field produced auroras that offered insight into the body of water discovered. 

Aurora makin' me crazy

"As Jupiter rotates once every ten hours, it's changing magnetic field causes the auroras to sway" (Chang, 2015). 

Studies show that if Ganymede were completely frozen, the auroras would sway by six degrees. However, a two degree shift would indicate the presence of salts under an ice ocean. Like many scientists have predicted, the auroras successfully swayed two degrees proving that science wins once again!

So what does this all mean?

and why should you care?

water = life

With the discovery of water on various moons, there is a possibility that living organisms exist as well.  As mentioned in class, there has also been speculations of Europa and Callisto containing bodies of water. So, while major efforts have been directed towards Mars, this new breakthrough could result in more promising leads elsewhere.

when it rains, it pours

It is believed by scientists in the field that Enceladus does not simply have minor bodies of water, yet much larger. It is predicted that there is as a surface area at least as great as Lake Superior. This is quite astounding considering the fact that Lake Superior has a whopping surface area of 31,700 square miles!

While these recent discoveries are extremely compelling, I believe that they are the first of many to come. While we know so much about our solar system, we also don't know a lot - and that's not even considering our Universe as a whole! I believe the presence of water (and maybe different lifeforms) will become more prevalent as humans grow. There is so much to learn about the Universe and with the collaborations of great minds on Earth, immaculate findings are on the horizon!

Joseph Gabro, James Madison University 15'
ASTR120 - Section 1