2024-02-07 17:43:46
Par Tristan Vey
Published 5 hours ago, Updated 4 hours ago
Mimas measures 400 km in diameter. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
DECRYPTION – Against all expectations, a small moon of Saturn called Mimas would shelter very large quantities of liquid water under a thick crust of ice.
Mimas is a small moon of Saturn whose main feat until now was to be the perfect incarnation of the Death Star from Star Wars. The small spherical body indeed presents in its northern hemisphere a very large crater (named Herschel, in homage to the British astronomer who discovered the satellite), the proportions of which are similar to the recess of the destructive laser of the space combat base.
It is today for more serious reasons that this frozen body is in the news. An international team, led by researchers from the Paris Observatory, has just shown that it sheltered, hidden under a thick crust of ice, a vast underground ocean more than 50 km thick. In fact, half of Mimas could actually be made up of liquid water, according to this new study published in Nature .
Also read: The long and difficult quest for extraterrestrial life in the Solar System
We might as well say it right away, nothing really suggested that this small natural satellite 400 km in diameter (almost ten times smaller…
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