Strange Sounds
February 16, 2024
Astronomers have discovered that a tiny moon of Saturn, named Mimas, may harbor a hidden liquid ocean beneath its thick icy shell and may thus have the conditions for habitability.
This shocking finding radically changes the definition of what an ocean moon can be, and could ultimately redefine our search for alien life on moons in the solar system. That’s because, at first appearance, Mimas — nicknamed the ‘Death Star’ because a large crater means it resembles the Empire’s space station in Star Wars — doesn’t look like the kind of body scientists would expect to support an ocean. In fact, it doesn’t even look capable of supporting such a vast body of liquid at all.