* Astronomy

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RE: Enceladus

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This image shows an updated map of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus, generated by the Cassini imaging team. The map incorporates new images taken in 2008, with better image processing techniques.

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Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Blobrana · L

This image of Saturn's moon Enceladus was taken by the Cassini spacecraft on the 13th October, 2009.
The image was taken using the CL1 and CL2 filters.

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Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Blobrana · L

The recent discovery of plumes containing water vapour erupting from the south pole of the frigid Saturnian moon Enceladus set off a firestorm of debate.
Many scientists thought the geysers of gaseous water must boil out of liquid water stored under the moon's surface, which would make Enceladus a promising candidate for life.
But a new study challenges that conclusion, arguing that the plumes could just as easily come from ice through the process of sublimation - the direct leap from the solid to gaseous state.
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Cairo Sulcus

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Baghdad Sulcus

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Damascus Sulcus

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RE: Enceladus

Blobrana · L

Saturnian Moon Shows Evidence of Ammonia
Data collected during two close flybys of Saturn's moon Enceladus by NASA's Cassini spacecraft add more fuel to the fire about the Saturnian ice world containing sub-surface liquid water. The data collected by Cassini's Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer during Enceladus flybys in July and Oct. 2008, were released in the July 23 issue of the journal Nature.

"When Cassini flew through the plume erupting from Enceladus on October 8 of last year, our spectrometer was able to sniff out many complex chemicals, including organic ones, in the vapour and icy particles. One of the chemicals definitively identified was ammonia" - Hunter Waite, the Cassini Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer Lead Scientist from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas.

On Earth, the presence of ammonia means the potential for sparkling clean floors and counter tops. In space, the presence of ammonia provides strong evidence for the existence of at least some liquid water.

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When NASA's Cassini spacecraft skimmed the surface of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus in 2008, it revealed the presence of ammonia for the first time, according to new results published in the 23 July issue of the journal Nature. This discovery adds another twist to our topsy-turvy understanding of the plumes of water vapour that emanate from the 498 kilometre wide moon's southern hemisphere.
If there is an underground ocean on Enceladus, then ammonia would be vital to it. Ammonia acts as an antifreeze, allowing water to remain liquid at temperatures as low as -97 degrees Celsius (176 kelvin).

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