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Icy Moons

All articles tagged with #icy moons

Fragments and Heat: Giant Impacts May Not Forge Oceans on Icy Moons
science24 days ago

Fragments and Heat: Giant Impacts May Not Forge Oceans on Icy Moons

New simulations of head-on collisions between icy moons show that while shattering a moon injects heat, the increased surface area of debris causes rapid heat loss during reaccretion and the reorganized interior often loses its insulating layer; as a result, smaller moons are unlikely to develop long-lived oceans, while larger moons may preserve or even thicken existing ones, but giant impacts rarely create new oceans that wouldn’t have formed otherwise; heat delivery does not equal heat retention over billions of years.

via Space Daily|
#heat-transfer#icy-moons#impact-simulations
Charon's Slow Spin Reveals a Cold Dawn for Pluto’s Largest Moon
space-and-spaceflight2 months ago

Charon's Slow Spin Reveals a Cold Dawn for Pluto’s Largest Moon

Nature Communications researchers, using data from NASA’s New Horizons flyby, show Charon’s rotation slowed from about 14.3 hours to about 153 hours due to despinning. The crust was initially thicker (roughly 30–36 km) and thinned over time, compressing fault lines and creating the ridges and highlands seen today, offering a new way to infer the early orbital and thermal state of icy satellites.

via Gizmodo|
#charon#despinning#geology
Fluffy Ice Hazards Loom for Ocean Moon Landers
space-and-spaceflight4 months ago

Fluffy Ice Hazards Loom for Ocean Moon Landers

New vacuum-chamber experiments modeling Europa- and Enceladus-like conditions find that low-pressure cryogenic freezing can produce highly porous, croissant-shaped 'fluffy ice' layers. These layers could be several meters to tens of meters thick, creating brittle ice that threatens lander stability or burial on the surface, complicating future missions to ocean worlds. Researchers will simulate flowing cryovolcanic flows to better mimic real surfaces, and mission planners (Europa Clipper, JUICE, and future landers) will need to rethink landing gear and procedures to cope with this icy hazard.

via Gizmodo|
#enceladus#europa#icy-moons
Ganymede’s secret core may still be forming after billions of years
space5 months ago

Ganymede’s secret core may still be forming after billions of years

A new study suggests Jupiter’s moon Ganymede could still be differentiating its metallic core billions of years after formation, with iron–sulfur melt slowly feeding a protocore that powers a long‑lived magnetic dynamo and likely an ocean beneath its ice. If correct, this ongoing core growth could explain why Ganymede remains magnetically active while other moons fade, and future missions like JUICE may test the idea.

via Interesting Engineering|
#core-formation#ganymede#icy-moons
Scientists Discover Arachnid-Like Creatures on Jupiter's Moon
science9 months ago

Scientists Discover Arachnid-Like Creatures on Jupiter's Moon

Scientists have proposed that the mysterious spider-like feature on Europa's surface, initially discovered by NASA's Galileo spacecraft, may have formed through processes similar to Earth's lake stars, possibly caused by an asteroid impact that allowed salty water to seep through Europa's ice, providing insights into subsurface conditions and potential habitats for extraterrestrial life.

via Yahoo|
#damhan-alla#europa#icy-moons
ESA's JUICE Mission: Key Highlights and Historic Flyby
space-exploration2 years ago

ESA's JUICE Mission: Key Highlights and Historic Flyby

The European Space Agency's JUICE mission, launched on April 14, 2023, aims to explore Jupiter and its icy moons, including Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, to study their composition, geology, and potential habitability. The mission involves complex navigation, including a critical lunar-Earth flyby in August 2024, to propel the spacecraft towards Jupiter. Equipped with advanced instruments, JUICE will investigate subsurface oceans, surface compositions, and Jupiter's atmosphere and magnetosphere, contributing to our understanding of the Jovian system and the search for extraterrestrial life.

via The Daily Galaxy --Great Discoveries Channel|
#esa#icy-moons#juice-mission
"Detecting Extraterrestrial Life with a Single Ice Grain"
space-science2 years ago

"Detecting Extraterrestrial Life with a Single Ice Grain"

Scientists have found that a single grain of material from icy moons like Europa and Enceladus could contain signs of life, boosting hopes for upcoming space missions. Using a simulated setup, they detected cellular material from a bacterium in ice grains, suggesting that upcoming spacecraft instruments could detect similar lifeforms. Missions like NASA's Europa Clipper and ESA's JUICE mission are on the horizon, equipped to potentially detect signs of life in the icy plumes of these moons. These findings are making the prospect of finding life on icy moons even more exciting.

via Quartz|
#biosignatures#enceladus#europa
"Hidden Ocean: Saturn's 'Death Star' Moon Reveals Subsurface Secrets"
space-science2 years ago

"Hidden Ocean: Saturn's 'Death Star' Moon Reveals Subsurface Secrets"

Saturn's moon Mimas, known for its resemblance to the Death Star, has been found to harbor a hidden ocean beneath its heavily cratered surface, as revealed by data from the Cassini space probe. The ocean, estimated to be 5 to 15 million years old, makes Mimas a prime candidate for studying the origin of life in the solar system. This discovery adds Mimas to the list of icy ocean worlds in the solar system, alongside Enceladus and Europa, and raises the possibility of habitability beyond Earth.

via Gizmodo|
#cassini#icy-moons#mimas
"Exploring Panspermia: Life Beneath the Ice Crust of Alien Worlds"
science3 years ago

"Exploring Panspermia: Life Beneath the Ice Crust of Alien Worlds"

The theory of panspermia, which suggests that life on Earth may have originated from an extraterrestrial source, has gained renewed interest with recent discoveries of icy moons in our solar system. These moons, such as Enceladus and Europa, have subsurface oceans that could potentially harbor life. Missions like JUICE and Europa Clipper are being planned to explore these moons and search for signs of life. Additionally, the concept of cryobots, robotic probes capable of penetrating the icy crust of these moons, is being developed to further investigate their hidden oceans. The discovery of life on these icy moons would provide evidence for the natural spread of life through space and could revolutionize our understanding of the origin of life in the universe.

via Aeon|
#directed-panspermia#extraterrestrial-life#icy-moons
"Revolutionary Nano Submarine to Probe Icy Moons of the Solar System"
space-exploration3 years ago

"Revolutionary Nano Submarine to Probe Icy Moons of the Solar System"

A nano submarine is being developed to explore the icy moons of Saturn and Jupiter, such as Enceladus and Europa, which are believed to have oceans of water beneath their icy surfaces. By studying Earth's coldest regions, like Antarctica, scientists hope to gain insights into the environmental conditions on these celestial bodies and potentially discover signs of life.

via Interesting Engineering|
#exploration#icy-moons#life-forms