Published Date:
25 June 2009
By Russell Jackson
THE strongest evidence yet of water on one of Saturn's moons has been discovered, boosting hopes that there may be life elsewhere in the solar system.
The Cassini spacecraft orbiting the ringed planet has identified salt in volcanic plumes ejected from Enceladus which scientists believe could only have come from an underground reservoir of water.
A sub-surface ocean would provide the ideal environment for primitive microbes.
The salt was discovered by Cassini's cosmic dust detector in ice grains of Saturn's outermost ring, the E ring, which is stocked with material that Enceladus spews out beyond the pull of the planet's gravity.
Dr Frank Postberg, of the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Germany, said: "We believe the salty minerals deep inside Enceladus washed out from a liquid layer."
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Last Updated:
24 June 2009 11:42 PM
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Source:
The Scotsman
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Location:
Edinburgh
