What is special about Enceladus?
Cassini revealed the dramatic truth: Enceladus is an active moon that hides a global ocean of liquid salty water beneath its crust. What’s more, jets of icy particles from that ocean, laced with a brew of water and simple organic chemicals, gush out into space continuously from this fascinating ocean world.
What causes the tiger stripes on Enceladus?
When the water below the ice partially freezes during periods of gradual cooling, the ice crust will thicken from below. This causes pressure to increase until the ice splits open, creating a fissure, or stripe. Illustration depicting the interior of Enceladus.
Why is Enceladus so smooth?
The smooth plains indicate a very young surface, perhaps only a few hundred million years old. These areas were almost certainly formed by water flowing to the surface from deep inside the moon. This could even be the result water volcanoes.
What are the blue lines on Enceladus?
This map shows the active south polar region of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. The long, linear, bluish features are the “tiger stripe” fractures, from which a plume of water vapor and other molecules erupts.
What are tiger stripes on a woman?
These stripes are a badge of honour representing all the amazing things a woman’s body is capable of doing (this “tiger stripes” – let the men hear us roar!). Still, it is not a sign of insecurity to find ways on how to deal with the marks if there is a possible and natural way of doing it.
Why could Enceladus be habitable?
A new study published in Nature Astronomy further investigates Enceladus’ possible habitability, comparing Earth’s deep-sea plumes, where microbial life thrives, with the ones found on the icy moon, and suggesting that they may be home to Earth-like microorganisms.
Can Enceladus be terraformed?
Terraforming is impossible because Enceladus cannot support an atmosphere.