Liquid Found on Saturn
The liquid found on Saturn‘s moon, Titan represents one of the most thrilling and crucial discoveries in a hundred years, since besides Earth, this is the second solar body with liquid on the surface in the planetary system. NASA’s press release informed the public that the open lake structures consisted of liquid hydrocarbons like ethane.
In the many close flybys around Saturn and its moons, Cassini probe took a large number of pictures of these planetary system. Scientists came to the conclusion that there could be real open liquid surfaces of methane, ethane and various other hydrocarbons; the speculation of crude oil components was confirmed by the dark color of the substance revealed on Titan. Even so, the liquid form was not confirmed until a probe reached the surface of Titan in January 2005.
The size of these pools or lakes of liquid discovered on Saturn’s satellite could be a few or hundreds of feet deep. Cassini spacecraft used an infrared scanning technique to approximate the size of these formations. Yet, the main question remains as whether this planet can support life or not.
Liquid found on Saturn’s other moon, Enceladus, seems to be water springing from high pressure geysers fueled by reservoirs just below the cold planet surface. Could such discoveries start a new era in the planetary exploration programs? Though life is difficult to imagine in the unfavorable weather of this cold world, right beneath the surface of Enceladus, all the premises indicate that life is more than possible.
This is the reason why the liquid found on Saturn’s Enceladus triggered a whole set of new investigations for life in the solar system. Plus, the other prerequisite for life existence on Enceladus, organic materials, is also met: there is methane, ethane, carbon dioxide and several others. Last but not least, near the thermal vents, deep down in Saturn’s center, the temperature could also generate a favorable background for the growth of life forms.
The liquid found on Saturn’s moons represents the most exciting discovery in the last twenty five years, since the moment when volcanic activity was identified on one of Jupiter’s moons. Even if the real origin of the water geysers on Enceladus cannot be observed by means of the cameras on Cassini, there is no doubt about the water sprays and the ice visible in the polar region.
The same warm-icy model in the structure of comets applies to this liquid found on Saturn’s satellite, Enceladus, since the geysers were identified as a combination of ice and hot water vapors. Then, the only reasonable conclusion is that water does exist beneath the soil of Enceladus!
