Science news!
By SJ Otto
When it comes to the subject of life
on other planets/moons/ etc. I find it all fascinating. I remember when I first
read about the idea that Europa had a large ocean of salty water below its
crust of ice, in a cold temperature of -250˚. Next there are the moons of Titan
and Enceladus of Saturn. Enceladus is a tiny moon with water below its
surface and it has geysers that allow liquid water to stream out. Then there is
the frozen world of Titan, a moon with a thick atmosphere and liquid
hydrocarbons. There is no water, but the liquid hydrocarbons may provide the
moon with the liquid it needs for primitive life forms there.
Now there is the possibility that
the planet Neptune ’s moon Triton
(-290˚) has life forms
below the surface, much like Europa or Enceladus.
For me it is always exciting to imagine that there are
living things in our solar system. It would mean that we are not alone in the
galaxy. It would be really cool if there are other living things in our solar
system.
So from NASA:
When NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft flew by Neptune 's
strange moon Triton three decades ago, it wrote a planetary science
cliffhanger.
Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft ever to have flown past Neptune , and it left a lot of unanswered questions. The
views were as stunning as they were puzzling, revealing massive, dark plumes of
icy material spraying out from Triton's
surface. But how? Images showed that the icy landscape was young and had been
resurfaced over and over with fresh material. But what material, and from
where?
How could an ancient moon six times farther from the Sun
than Jupiter still be active? Is there something in its interior that is still
warm enough to drive this activity?
A new mission competing for selection under NASA's Discovery
Program aims to untangle these mysteries. Called Trident, like the
three-pronged spear carried by the ancient Roman sea god Neptune, the team
is one of
four that is developing concept studies for new missions. Up to two
will be selected by summer 2021 to become a full-fledged mission and will
launch later in the decade.
Investigating how Triton has changed over time would give
scientists a better understanding of how solar system bodies evolve and work.
For the rest click
here.
Triton
Titan
Enceladus
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