CAPE CANAVERAL, fla. — Scientists have uncovered a vast ocean beneath the icy surface of Saturn’s little moon Enceladus.
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.
This 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 is about 310 miles across.
The data do not show whether the ocean extends to the north pole, said the lead researcher, Luciano Iess of Sapienza University in Rome. At the very least, it’s a regional sea about 25 miles deep under miles-thick ice. On Earth, it would stretch from the South Pole to New Zealand — at the very least.
Cassini’s rudimentary instruments also cannot determine whether the moon’s ocean harbors any form of life. Another mission using more sophisticated instruments is needed to make that search.
