Saturn's moon Mimas has a sub-surface ocean? - Printable Version

+- The Coffee House (https://tch-forum.com)
+-- Forum: Topical discussions (https://tch-forum.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=19)
+--- Forum: Science and Nature (https://tch-forum.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=21)
+---- Forum: Astronomy and Space Life (https://tch-forum.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=23)
+---- Thread: Saturn's moon Mimas has a sub-surface ocean? (/showthread.php?tid=14532)

---

Saturn's moon Mimas has a sub-surface ocean? - Kyng - 02-03-2023

https://www.space.com/saturn-moon-mimas-stealth-ocean-world


(Source: NASA / Above article)

The icy Saturn moon Mimas may be a "stealth" ocean world, according to new research.

Mimas, the smallest and innermost of Saturn's major moons, is believed to generate the right amount of heat to support a subsurface ocean of liquid water. And recent simulations of the moon's Herschel impact basin — the most striking feature on its heavily cratered surface — along with the lack of tectonics on Mimas, support the existence of a geologically young internal ocean surrounded by a thinning ice shell, according to a statement(opens in new tab) from the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in San Antonio, Texas.

"In the waning days of NASA's Cassini mission to Saturn, the spacecraft identified a curious libration, or oscillation, in Mimas' rotation, which often points to a geologically active body able to support an internal ocean," Alyssa Rhoden, co-author of the new study and a scientist at SwRI, said in the statement

---

First of all... that's no moon, it's a space station .

But, joking aside: I'd like to know whether this is true. After all, the more places there are with liquid water, the more places there are that could harbour life! (Not that I think it's likely under the surface of Mimas, but it has one of the key ingredients).

---

RE: Saturn's moon Mimas has a sub-surface ocean? - ZandraJoi - 02-07-2023

Cool! & you never know, some beings out there may not NEED water to survive.

---

RE: Saturn's moon Mimas has a sub-surface ocean? - Kyng - 02-08-2023

(02-07-2023, 12:58 PM)ZandraJoi Wrote: Cool! & you never know, some beings out there may not NEED water to survive.

Indeed - that's certainly true ! I guess we're just looking for water because it's a vital ingredient in the only known recipe for life... but that doesn't mean there can't be others .

---