Enceladus May Be Able To Support Life

[ltr]CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Scientists have uncovered a vast ocean beneath the icy surface of Saturn's little moon Enceladus.[/ltr]

[ltr]Italian and American researchers made the discovery using Cassini, a NASA-European spacecraft still exploring Saturn and its rings 17 years after its launch from Cape Canaveral. Their findings were announced Thursday.[/ltr]





[ltr]This new ocean of liquid water — as big as or even bigger than North America's Lake Superior — is centered at the south pole of Enceladus and could encompass much if not most of the moon. Enceladus (ehn-SEHL'-uh-duhs) is about 310 miles across.[/ltr]





[ltr]The data do not show if the ocean extends to the north pole, said the lead researcher, Luciano Iess of Sapienza University of Rome. At the very least, it's a regional sea some 25 miles deep under miles-thick ice. On Earth, it would stretch from our South Pole up to New Zealand — at the very least.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/03/ocean-saturn-moon-enceladus-life_n_5085814.html?utm_hp_ref=science[/ltr]