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Plume

All articles tagged with #plume

space3 days ago•10 min saved

Enceladus: sampling an alien ocean without landing via its plume

Enceladus, a small moon of Saturn, hides a global ocean beneath its ice and vents a plume of water vapor and ice grains through south-pole fractures, feeding Saturn’s E ring. Cassini flew through this plume from 2004–2017, sampling material from the ocean that had been altered en route and finding organic compounds and phosphorus, which points to habitability rather than life—no life-detection instruments were onboard. Future missions with dedicated biosignature instruments could probe further, but none are funded yet; current insights come from re-analysis of Cassini data and the plume’s status as a processed sample of an alien ocean.

via Space Daily|

#astrobiology #enceladus #plume

science3 years ago•3 min saved

Possible Life on Saturn Moon Enceladus: New Evidence Found.

Scientists from Southwest Research Institute have found more indications of possible life on Enceladus, a moon of Saturn. Observations using the James Webb Space Telescope have strengthened suspicions that the moon could support life due to its stable environment and the presence of a massive plume of water vapor that feeds the water supply for Saturn and its moons. The team plans to search for specific indicators of habitability, such as organic compounds, in future observations. NASA's Webb telescope will serve as the primary observation tool for Enceladus.

via San Antonio Express-News|

#enceladus #james-webb-space-telescope #plume

space3 years ago•3 min saved

JWST Discovers Massive Plume from Enceladus's Geysers.

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has revealed the water plume from Enceladus's geysers is much bigger than previously thought, with the size of an outburst recorded as "immense". The discovery of geysers near the south pole of Saturn’s moon Enceladus rocketed the previously low-profile satellite to the top of planetary scientists’ priority list. The JWST's images could reveal something of the plume’s composition, potentially even including biosignatures.

via IFLScience|

#cassini #enceladus #geysers

space3 years ago•3 min saved

JWST discovers massive plume erupting from Saturn's moon.

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has detected a massive plume of water vapour spraying from Saturn's moon Enceladus, which could contain the chemical ingredients of life. The plume is much larger than previously thought and is a direct link to the potential extraterrestrial ecosystem in Enceladus's subsurface ocean. JWST's sensitive instruments captured faint gas signals around Enceladus, revealing evidence of many chemicals, including water and possibly other compounds that could hint at geological or biological activity in the moon's ocean. Researchers are already planning how to follow up on the discovery, including another project to study Enceladus for six times longer than the first JWST study.

via Nature.com|

#enceladus #extraterrestrial-life #jwst