New research suggests there are locations on the surface of Saturn’s moon, Enceladus, where spacecraft could land to scoop up pristine traces of the key ingredients for life. It’s believed that these biosignatures come from subsurface oceans within the world’s icy shell. Enceladus has long been known to harbor organic […]
Saturn
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The moon will meet up with Saturn, the solar system’s second-largest planet, on Sunday (Dec. 17) when the two celestial bodies make a close approach. The moon will be almost half-illuminated during the close approach, and at around the same time, the two celestial bodies will share the same right […]
A new investigation of data collected by NASA’s Cassini mission, which ended six years ago, has revealed that the spacecraft spotted a key ingredient needed for life on Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus. The Cassini observations have revealed a powerful energy source for potential lifeforms deep below the icy shell of […]
Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. Scientists have long viewed Saturn’s moon Enceladus, which harbors an ocean beneath its thick, icy shell, as one of the best places to search for life beyond Earth. Now, a […]
An illustration of NASA’s Cassini spacecraft diving through the plumes of Saturn’s moon Enceladus NASA/JPL-Caltech The plumes of water vapour erupting from the surface of Enceladus seem to contain hydrogen cyanide, which – perhaps counter-intuitively – is a sign that the the ocean that lies beneath the surface of this icy […]
The icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn may hold the key to the survival of alien life, according to scientists at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa. Scientists have released a research paper suggesting that the so-called “strike-slip faults” on the moons of Ganymede (which rotates around Jupiter) and Titan […]
Testing is now underway on NASA’s Dragonfly rotorcraft, a nuclear-powered, car-sized aerial drone that will look for potential precursors to life on Saturn’s moon, Titan. But before Dragonfly can take to the sky, NASA has to make sure it can withstand the moon’s unique environment. Dragonfly’s main goal is to […]
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) dropped never-before-seen photos of one of Saturn’s moons while comparing them to well-known food dishes. “Ravioli, pierogi, empanada… What do you see? No wrong answers,” NASA posted on its Instagram account Monday, accompanied by pictures of Pan, the innermost of Saturn’s moons. The photos, which […]