Logy Magazine. For years researchers have been debating whether Enceladus, a tiny moon floating just outside Saturn’s rings, is home to a vast underground ocean. Is it wet, or not? Now, new evidence is tipping the scales. Not only does Enceladus likely have an ocean, that ocean is probably fizzy like a soft drink and could be friendly to microbial life. The story begins in 2005 when NASA’s Cassini probe flew past Enceladus for a close encounter. "Geophysicists expected this little world to be a lump of ice, cold, dead, and uninteresting," says Dennis Matson of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Cassini found the little moon busily puffing plumes of water vapor, icy particles, and organic compounds out through fissures (now known as "tiger stripes") in its frozen carapace. Many researchers viewed the icy jets as proof of a large subterranean body of water. In initial flybys, Cassini’s instruments detected carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and various hydrocarbons in the plume gasses. Diamond Planet Discovered By Astronomers. The nursery song "twinkle twinkle, little star" might have a whole new meaning now that astronomers have found a planet they believe to be made almost entirely of diamonds. Scientists say the planet exists about 4,000 light years away from Earth, and is probably the remnants of a once-large dead star, Reuters reports.
(Scroll down for video.) "The evolutionary history and amazing density of the planet all suggest it is comprised of carbon," Matthew Bailes of the University of Technology in Melbourne told Reuters. He calls it "a massive diamond orbiting a neutron star every two hours in an orbit so tight it would fit inside our own Sun. " The Daily Mail reported that, even though the planet is small in size, it has slightly more mass than the planet Jupiter. Scientists were able to find the planet by tracking its companion star, or a pulsar, using the Parkes Radio Telescope in Australia. Astronomers detected a similar planet in December 2010, only 1,200 light years away.
New Horizons: Mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt. Jupiter. MESSENGER - Unlocking the Secrets of Mercury. Astronomy Picture of the Day. Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2016 April 15 Mercury and Crescent Moon Set Image Credit & Copyright: Miguel Claro (TWAN, Dark Sky Alqueva) Explanation: Innermost planet Mercury and a thin crescent Moon are never found far from the Sun in planet Earth's skies. Taken near dusk on April 8, this colorful evening skyscape shows them both setting toward the western horizon just after the Sun.
Tomorrow's picture: Heliopause Electrostatic Rapid Transit System Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important NoticesA service of:ASD at NASA / GSFC& Michigan Tech.
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