Home Tech Saturn’s moon could harbour alien life: Mimas may have a hidden ocean buried beneath almost 20 miles of ice, study finds

Saturn’s moon could harbour alien life: Mimas may have a hidden ocean buried beneath almost 20 miles of ice, study finds

by Elijah
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Mimas is a small moon but it has a crater so large that it gives the appearance of the Death Star space station from Star Wars.
  • Mimas is a small moon with a crater so large it looks like the Death Star.
  • Astronomers say it could be hiding an ocean beneath its icy, cratered surface.

Researchers suggest that one of Saturn’s moons could be hiding an ocean beneath its icy, cratered surface that could provide a haven for life.

Mimas is a small moon but it has a crater so large that it gives the appearance of the Death Star space station from Star Wars.

Astronomers have long believed it has a solid core because nothing has been observed on the moon’s surface to indicate it has a subsurface ocean.

But a new study, made possible by data from a crashed spacecraft, suggests otherwise.

NASA’s Cassini, a spacecraft sent to study Saturn, spent two decades in space, including tracking the orbit of Mimas.

Mimas is a small moon but it has a crater so large that it gives the appearance of the Death Star space station from Star Wars.

The spacecraft was destroyed in 2017 when it was intentionally plunged into Saturn’s atmosphere.

But a new analysis of their data indicates that Mimas’s position and orbit are better explained by being influenced by an internal ocean than by having a solid core.

Researchers at the Paris Observatory estimate that the ocean is under a layer of ice approximately 20 to 30 kilometers deep, is less than 25 million years old, and is still evolving.

The discovery, published in the journal Nature, is likely to trigger a “comprehensive examination” of medium-sized icy moons across the Solar System.

In an accompanying commentary, Matija Ćuk, a research scientist at the SETI Institute in California, and Alyssa Rhoden of the Southwest Research Institute in Colorado, said: “The detection of liquid water oceans beneath the icy surfaces of the Solar System’s outer moons suggests that these moons could provide abodes for life in conditions that differ markedly from those on Earth.

One of Saturn's moons could be hiding an ocean beneath its icy surface that could provide a haven for life, researchers suggest.

One of Saturn’s moons could be hiding an ocean beneath its icy surface that could provide a haven for life, researchers suggest.

‘There are many implications of Mimas being an ocean world. The idea that relatively small icy moons could host young oceans is inspiring.

“The findings will motivate a comprehensive examination of medium-sized icy moons throughout the Solar System.

“The Solar System will always hold surprises, and researchers must be open enough to new ideas and unexpected possibilities to recognize them.”

Dr Nick Cooper, honorary research fellow at Queen Mary University of London, said: “Mimas is a small moon, only about 400 kilometers in diameter, and its cratered surface gives no glimpse of the hidden ocean beneath.

‘This discovery adds Mimas to an exclusive club of moons with internal oceans, including Enceladus and Europa, but with a unique difference: its ocean is remarkably young, estimated to be only five to 15 million years old.

“The existence of a newly formed liquid water ocean makes Mimas an ideal candidate for study by researchers investigating the origin of life.”

SATURN: THE BASICS

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in our solar system after Jupiter.

It is considered the “jewel of the solar system” with its solar rings.

It is not the only planet that has rings but none are as spectacular or as complicated as Saturn’s.

Like Jupiter, Saturn is a huge ball composed primarily of hydrogen and helium, with some heavy elements.

Its core extends to cover 60 percent of the world’s radius.

It is similar to the rest of the planet, but is made of a “slush”-like material of gases, metallic fluids, rock and ice.

Saturn, the farthest planet from Earth discovered with the naked eye, has been known since ancient times.

The planet is named after the Roman god of agriculture and wealth, who was also the father of Jupiter.

While the planet Saturn is an unlikely place for living things to settle, the same is not true for some of its many moons.

Satellites like Enceladus and Titan, home to internal oceans, could possibly support life.

Facts and figures

Distance from the sun: 1,434 million kilometers

Orbital period: 29 years

Surface area: 42.7 billion km²

Radio: 58,232 kilometers

Mass: 5.683 × 10^26 kg (95.16 M⊕)

length of day: 0d 10h 42m

moons: 82 with formal designations; countless additional moons

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