The Oneness Zone

Ice volcano seen on a moon of Saturn

High-resolution images taken by the Cassini space probe show icy jets and towering plumes ejecting huge quantities of particles at high speed.

Nasa scientists have ruled out the idea that the particles are produced or blown off the moon's surface by vapour created when warm water ice converts directly to a gas. Instead, they believe that the jets may be erupting from pockets of liquid water above freezing point at the surface of the moon, like colder versions of the hot volcanic geysers found on Earth.

"Other moons in the Solar System have liquid-water oceans covered by kilometres of icy crust," said Andrew Ingersoll of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California.

"What's different here is that pockets of liquid water may be no more than tens of metres below the surface," Dr Ingersoll said.more


If the moon smiled, she would resemble you.
You leave the same impression
Of something beautiful, but annihilating.
Both of you are great light borrowers.
Her O-mouth grieves at the world; yours is unaffected.

Sylvia Plath

posted by fusionlin @ 11:44 AM