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Saturn Moon Has Ice Volcano—And Maybe Life?

Offline kinjo

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Saturn Moon Has Ice Volcano—And Maybe Life?
« on: December 18, 2010, 07:30:35 AM »
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Saturn's moon Titan has long been suspected of sporting ice volcanoes. Now NASA pictures appear to confirm at least one huge, dormant "cryovolcano"—and perhaps more.


If the evidence bears out, it might represent the best evidence yet that life could exist on Saturn's biggest satellite.

(Also see "Saturn's Largest Moon Has Ingredients for Life?")

Not unlike the volcanoes of Hawaii, the supposed ice volcano, known as Sotra Facula, rises 5,000 feet (1,500 meters) above the surrounding plain in a large, gently shaped dome, according to the mountain's discoverer, geophysicist Randolph Kirk.

The feature had previously been seen as a circular bright spot, nicknamed "The Rose," in radar and infrared pictures of Titan taken by NASA-ESA's Cassini probe.

But it wasn't until Cassini passed over the site a second time that scientists realized Sotra Facula is a circular mountain 40 miles (70 kilometers) across.

"Shocked" by Saturn Moon Volcano Evidence

Because the two flybys viewed the apparent ice volcano from different angles, the researchers were able to make a topographical map. Converted into a 3-D video, the combined images allowed scientists to virtually fly over the region at low altitude, as though on an airplane tour.

"I was shocked when I saw the video and suddenly realized what we were looking at," said Kirk, of the U.S. Geological Survey's Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona.

The 3-D computer model also revealed at least two more giant mountains, one with another big crater. The mountains form a chain several hundred miles long, flanked by lowlands that appear to be enrobed in lava flows.

"That's a combination of features you can't make any way other than by volcanism, we believe," said Kirk, who announced the find Tuesday at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in San Francisco.

Planetary scientist Jeffrey Kargel agrees that a volcano is by far the best explanation.

"They have all their ducks in a row, short of having an actual sample form the surface that we could analyze," said Kargel, of the University of Arizona, Tucson, who was not part of the study team.

Ice Volcano Spews Life Onto Saturn Moon?

The presence of an ice volcano would increase the chances that Titan has the building blocks for life.

Lava from an ice volcano, the thinking goes, would contain liquid water. That water could react with chemicals called tholins—molecules produced in Titan's atmosphere when UV sunlight irradiates compounds such as methane or nitrogen.

These reactions could produce important chemical precursors to life, said planetary scientist Catherine Neish, who wasn't involved in the discovery.

In separate research also presented at the AGU meeting, Neish found that room temperature water laced with tholins will create amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, within days—much less time than it would take "cryolava" to freeze on the Saturn moon.

According to Neish, of Johns Hopkins University, "the reactions are easy and quick"—and they require temperatures only a bit above freezing.

That's important, the University of Arizona's Kargel added. "Volcanoes on Earth are destroyers of life," he said. "But on Titan, cryovolcanism would represent perhaps the very liquids that would form the habitat for life."

And if by chance there is life in warm zones in subterranean Titan, the volcanoes might carry traces of life-forms to the surface, where future explorers might someday find the frozen remnants, he added.

(Also see "Saturn Moon Has Surprisingly 'Slushy' Insides.")

Cryovolcano or Asphalt Volcano?

Without physical samples of Sotra Facula, though, we can’t be absolutely sure its lava contains water.

Despite the fact that Titan is largely covered in water ice, "the presence of things that look like volcanoes doesn’t mean" they spewed watery lava, said Ralph Lorenz, a planetary scientist from Johns Hopkins University who wasn't part of the cryovolcano study.

The University of Arizona's Kargel said that, for example, the Titan volcanoes might have formed from oozing hydrocarbons such as asphalt—a not unheard-of possibility.

For one thing, Titan is believed to have lakes filled with hydrocarbons, such as liquid methane. For another, Kargel said, "we recently found asphalt volcanoes off the coast of Santa Barbara."

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/12/101215-saturn-moon-titan-ice-volcano-nasa-science-pictures/

Kinjo Note: The one thing that really disappoints me is that, in my lifetime space travel will probably only be space tourism, not planet visitation... Just hovering over the planet... and for TONS of money. I mean look how long it's been since we walked on the moon. Not much has happened since then. They thought back in the 60's that we would have permeant stations on the moon by now, even Mars.. So sad...

Offline Flashwerewolf

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Re: Saturn Moon Has Ice Volcano—And Maybe Life?
« Reply #1 on: December 20, 2010, 11:14:35 AM »
water on a planet/moon is only a small aspect of sustaining organic life.

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Offline kinjo

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Re: Saturn Moon Has Ice Volcano—And Maybe Life?
« Reply #2 on: December 20, 2010, 09:24:52 PM »
What else?? Water can give energy, grow food, and liquidate our bodies

Offline Flashwerewolf

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Re: Saturn Moon Has Ice Volcano—And Maybe Life?
« Reply #3 on: January 31, 2011, 04:04:25 AM »
Things like temperature, radiation, the amount of specific minerals in the soil, whether there even is soil, the contents of the air, if it has air, etc etc etc etc.

Water being on a Moon of Saturn will probably just mean it will eventually become a re-fueling station for ships that need to stock up on water supplies.

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Offline kinjo

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Re: Saturn Moon Has Ice Volcano—And Maybe Life?
« Reply #4 on: February 01, 2011, 06:03:58 PM »
i read this thing that if you get used to mars gravity for 20+ years you would never be able to come back to earth without being crushed

Offline Flashwerewolf

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Re: Saturn Moon Has Ice Volcano—And Maybe Life?
« Reply #5 on: February 01, 2011, 07:07:01 PM »
Makes sense, our bodies strengthen by our environment. So does that mean Mars has less gravity than earth?

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Offline kinjo

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Re: Saturn Moon Has Ice Volcano—And Maybe Life?
« Reply #6 on: February 06, 2011, 08:36:15 AM »
yes, a lot less

so one day when mars's humans attack the earth against the allied countries, they will come here and CRUSH! *FAIL*

Offline Kedzor

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Re: Saturn Moon Has Ice Volcano—And Maybe Life?
« Reply #7 on: February 06, 2011, 12:39:02 PM »
Things like temperature, radiation, the amount of specific minerals in the soil, whether there even is soil, the contents of the air, if it has air, etc etc etc etc.

Water being on a Moon of Saturn will probably just mean it will eventually become a re-fueling station for ships that need to stock up on water supplies.
But we only understand life as it pertains to development here on earth, so we only have one frame of refrence when it comes to determining what the key ingredients are for a sustained organic reaction.
Liquid water helps considerably, and who knows what juices can be cooking under the ice up there?

My brain pattern set does not make a reply is still more work to be mean?Are you saying we define ourselves through our interactions and expectations of individuals and think this board and it is harmless, cheesy fun in the second girl who has done that has any comments on like knights of the prisoner in which you have, or are at the same in spirit. But i'm staying here for semantics.

Offline ChickanBone

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Re: Saturn Moon Has Ice Volcano—And Maybe Life?
« Reply #8 on: February 06, 2011, 02:06:28 PM »
Wait a second don't you have it backwards I thought Mars was the Big Red Planet

Wouldn't it be the other way around? That's why they have so many storms and stuffs..


Or wait am I talking about Jupiter????  [box]
[4mdouble][4mdouble]

Offline Kedzor

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Re: Saturn Moon Has Ice Volcano—And Maybe Life?
« Reply #9 on: February 06, 2011, 03:36:16 PM »
mars barely even has an atmosphere anymore, it's all boiled into space, it only gets as warm as -5c*
it's called the red planet because of the iron oxide in the crust
Jupiter has The Great Red Spot, wich is where you're getting confused
there is no Big Red Planet

My brain pattern set does not make a reply is still more work to be mean?Are you saying we define ourselves through our interactions and expectations of individuals and think this board and it is harmless, cheesy fun in the second girl who has done that has any comments on like knights of the prisoner in which you have, or are at the same in spirit. But i'm staying here for semantics.

Offline ChickanBone

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Re: Saturn Moon Has Ice Volcano—And Maybe Life?
« Reply #10 on: February 06, 2011, 03:38:16 PM »
ooh lol I thought mars was like the 2nd biggest planet heheh..

and if that were the case then it would have a larger gravitational pull.

but nope I looked it up yeah I was getting confused mars is much smaller than earth...
lol
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Offline Adelaide

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Re: Saturn Moon Has Ice Volcano—And Maybe Life?
« Reply #11 on: February 06, 2011, 04:06:57 PM »
o.o mars is small bro... how do you confuse that XD
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Offline ChickanBone

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Re: Saturn Moon Has Ice Volcano—And Maybe Life?
« Reply #12 on: February 06, 2011, 07:23:41 PM »
They're both redish. idk I haven't learned about planets since I was like in the 4th grade.
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Offline Flashwerewolf

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Re: Saturn Moon Has Ice Volcano—And Maybe Life?
« Reply #13 on: February 07, 2011, 01:49:02 AM »
Things like temperature, radiation, the amount of specific minerals in the soil, whether there even is soil, the contents of the air, if it has air, etc etc etc etc.

Water being on a Moon of Saturn will probably just mean it will eventually become a re-fueling station for ships that need to stock up on water supplies.
But we only understand life as it pertains to development here on earth, so we only have one frame of refrence when it comes to determining what the key ingredients are for a sustained organic reaction.
Liquid water helps considerably, and who knows what juices can be cooking under the ice up there?

I was speaking in terms of sustained human life on the planet.

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Offline Adelaide

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Re: Saturn Moon Has Ice Volcano—And Maybe Life?
« Reply #14 on: February 07, 2011, 01:51:59 PM »
@Nick: we also understand carbon to be very necessary for maintaining organ life, but I'd venture to guess Mars has a decent amount of that too

@FW: Ehhh I don't think humans need to start immigrating to other planets, but the concept of new unidentified life on other planets is pretty amazing
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Offline kinjo

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Re: Saturn Moon Has Ice Volcano—And Maybe Life?
« Reply #15 on: February 07, 2011, 04:55:05 PM »
i think humans should, and become independent from earth

for our species to exists for millions of years to come, we would have to

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Re: Saturn Moon Has Ice Volcano—And Maybe Life?
« Reply #16 on: February 07, 2011, 06:14:00 PM »
no you wouldnt nor should we
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Offline Flashwerewolf

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Re: Saturn Moon Has Ice Volcano—And Maybe Life?
« Reply #17 on: February 08, 2011, 02:36:14 AM »
Couldn't be a bad trait, being able to survive on multiple planets. Plus if we spread ourselves out into the galaxy, even if one of our planets gets destroyed by a meteor or something, all of humanity would not be lost.

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Offline Adelaide

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Re: Saturn Moon Has Ice Volcano—And Maybe Life?
« Reply #18 on: February 08, 2011, 03:54:56 PM »
Dunno why the concept of all humanity being lost is so constantly considered. or that it's considered to be a terrible terrible thing... We all die when our time has come o.o can't continually run away from death
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Offline kinjo

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Re: Saturn Moon Has Ice Volcano—And Maybe Life?
« Reply #19 on: February 09, 2011, 07:49:12 AM »
We are always running from death, time is our biggest enemy