Watery clues on Saturn moon
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Astronomers looking at the spectacular supersonic plumes of gas and dust shooting off one of Saturn’s moons say there are strong hints of liquid water, a key building block of life.
Using images from NASA’s Cassini probe, astronomers had already figured that the mysterious plumes shooting from Enceladus’ icy terrain contain water vapor.
New calculations suggest the gas and dust spew at more than 1,360 mph, said the study’s lead author Candice Hansen of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in La Canada Flintridge.
Reaching that speed “is hard to do without liquids,” said Hansen, whose research was published Thursday in the journal Nature.
