Notimex – 15:26 – 17/09/2015
The Cassini space mission of the National Agency for Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA, for its acronym in English ) discovered an ocean beneath the icy crust of Enceladus, active moon of Saturn.
The slight “wobble” of the moon as it orbits Saturn can only be explained if the outer layer of ice is not frozen in interior, meaning that there is a global ocean, the researchers said.
The scientists analyzed more than seven years the images of Enceladus taken by the spacecraft, orbiting Saturn since mid-2004, explained the NASA on its website.
When observing the positions and characteristics of Enceladus, consisting mostly of craters, scientists also measured changes in the rotation of the moon, which identified the ” wobble “while performing orbit Saturn.
The icy moon of Saturn is not entirely spherical, has fast and slow movements while rotating around Saturn, which causes the giant planet so the move “subtle” back and forth when in orbit.
“If the surface and core are connected rigidly both the core provide deadweight that Wade would be much lower,” said Matthew Tiscareno, participating scientist Cassini at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, and author of the paper.
“This shows that there must be a global layer of liquid that separates the core surface,” he added.
However, Tiscareno said that the mechanisms that might have prevented the freezing of the ocean are a mystery.
Therefore, scientists are working on other studies that could help solve the issue, including possibility of tidal forces due to gravity Saturn would generate more heat inside Enceladus than previously thought.
The NASA reported that the Cassini spacecraft will make the closest flyby of Enceladus 28 October, passing through the active column of icy material, just 49 kilometers from the surface of the moon.
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