Aside from its striking resemblance to the Death Star, Saturn’s moon Mimas may also be home to a vast ocean of liquid water beneath its pockmarked surface. This surprising revelation challenges previous assumptions about the moon’s composition and potential for sustaining life. The presence of a hidden ocean on Mimas has been a subject of debate among scientists, with some dismissing the idea due to the expected surface cracks caused by Saturn’s gravity. However, new calculations propose that Mimas has an ice shell approximately 20 to 30 kilometers thick, followed by a 70-kilometer-deep ocean and a solid rocky core. This suggests that the ocean formed relatively recently, between 5 million and 50 million years ago, which is a relatively short timeframe in geological terms. These findings have sparked renewed interest in the potential habitability of Mimas and its significance in the study of planetary bodies.
2024-02-07 11:00:00
Source from www.sciencenews.org