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[Thaedolus]

Great Filter believers am cry.

Aren't there several different hypothesized "great filters" which are possible?

 

[Ether_Snake]

Icarus Paper via ScienceDirect: "Enceladus’s measured physical libration requires a global subsurface ocean"

NASA Press Release: Cassini Finds Global Ocean in Saturn's Moon Enceladus




More in the link.

This is the Cassini image from 2005 showing the plumes. Fountains of Enceladus:

Fun fact. Enceladus feeds Saturn's E ring. Ghostly Fingers of Enceladus:

Link to image gallery: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/targetFamily/Saturn?subselect=Target:Enceladus:&start=100

Wouldn't it be more frozen the deeper you go? Otherwise it means there is a warm core, like Earth, I presume because of the spinning motion of the moon?

 

[Amir0x]

Wouldn't it be more frozen the deeper you go? Otherwise it means there is a warm core, like Earth, I presume because of the spinning motion of the moon?

It might mean the tidal forces is causing heating of the moon, but it could also be partly because - like in Lake Vostok in the Antarctic - the extreme pressure of the ice above keeps it liquid despite below freezing temperatures.

 

[MagicWithEarvin]

Fascinating stuff

 

[Chichikov]

Wouldn't it be more frozen the deeper you go? Otherwise it means there is a warm core, like Earth, I presume because of the spinning motion of the moon?

Earth oceans are not kept liquid due its warm core. Ice floats, so if water get frozen it will float to the surface.

Now, what preventing it from being completely frozen is a different story, and I believe the leading theory is tidal forces, but a partially frozen body of water will always be frozen at the top, not the bottom.

 

[dabig2]

Man, I hope we can land a probe there in the near future and sample the possibly abundant amount of life hidden away beyond our eyes. I hope we can find some really bizarre extraterrestrials there, but I'd be fine with microbial bacteria to be honest. Even that should yield some crazy, surprising observations about how different billions of years of evolution have been for the Enceladus natives compared to on earth.

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

ha! Suck it, Europa.

 

[ugh_the_boot]

I want to see what the water of one of saturn's moons tastes like

Fart probably (on Titan).

 

[Josh7289]

Organic??????

Organic in this case basically means that the molecules have carbon in them. Various organic molecules are, as far as we understand it, necessary for life, but the presence of organic molecules on Enceladus is absolutely no way any confirmation of life. After all, organic molecules are present throughout the universe, but we have no confirmation of life having originated from anywhere outside of Earth.

But, since organic molecules do seem to be necessary for life, the presence of some organic molecules on Enceladus combined with various other factors like this subsurface liquid water ocean do -- I think -- make Enceladus a stronger candidate for a deeper investigation into the possibility of the presence of extraterrestrial life.

 

[ShaneDude]

The Devil put that ocean there.

 

[bonesmccoy]

Water there means OSS outposts and mining and colonies

And if science fiction is any guide, outposts and mining and colonies mean

Spoiler

SUB

GALACTIC CIVIL WAR

 

[BigJonsson]

That's no moon.....