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Saturn Moon Continues to Delight and Baffle
vic_1066 writes to tell us that BBC News is reporting on the many interesting discoveries made by the Cassini probe. The Saturn moon, Enceladus, apparently continues to provide confusion and excitement for scientists the world over. The Cassini probe has been making waves ever since its arrival to the Saturn system.
"The Cassini probe has been making waves ever since it's arrival to the Saturn system."
What, now there's water on Saturn, too!
(I know, I know, it's not a rock like Mars is... gimme a little rope here for the joke, k?)
The party of stupid and the party of evil get together and do something both stupid and evil, then call it bipartisan.
That's no moon! It's a space station! And many Bothans died to bring us that information.
The days of the digital watch are numbered.
I knew I was delighted when I read the name of the moon... until I realized it's not "Enchiladas"... :(
As usual, get the information straight from NASA
Press Release, Pictures
Throw the bums out!
..then we can have a hope of a mission there. Without upsetting the monoliths!
..don't panic
"In Greek mythology Enceladus was a Titan who was defeated in battle and buried under Mount Etna by Athena."
I don't get it.
These are the things that make this universe so incredible! Nature may be governed by general laws, but she will never allow a dull moment
For such a tiny moon (its only 500km across), this one packs plenty of surprises. This oddity has: a localized hotspot at its southern pole, a largely water vapor atmostphere with some interesting trace compounds, and most intriguingly, a spot on the very short list of places possibly harboring life.
Absolutely intriguing - congrats to the Cassini team for their achievements.
So at the equator it's several hundred degrees below zero -- cold enough to freeze your balls off in 2.3 seconds. At the south polar region, it's a bit less... cold enough to freeze your balls off in 2.15 seconds. When do we send the manned mission?
Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
if the source of the heat turned out to be a natural nuclear reactor, like Oklo. I doubt that's a possibility, since I would think it'd put off a lot more heat if it were.
stuff
Enceladus, apparently continues to provide confusion and excitement for scientists the world over.
Why? Is Enceladus a naked girl?
Har har har.
~jeff
My moon also continues to Delight and Baffle!
Wanna see?
Enceladus was male, as you can tell by the name. A female would have been named "Encelada," making the mexican food joke even better.
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1) The volcanoes at Io's surface have nothing to do with plasma physics or MHD.
2) No volcanoes have "drifted around" the surface of Io.
3) There have been migrations of Ionian eruption plumes (the gas/dust "geysers" above the surface).
4) We can quite readily explain this with simple thermophysics. Plasma or MHD has nothing to do with it.
5) Some people have claimed that MHD has influenced the shape of plumes, but we can't reconcile that with the observations of WHERE the fields interact with Io.
6) Some have claimed that electric currents can cause the elevated temperatures of some of Io's volcanoes, but they haven't done the simple math to know that even at 100% efficiency, there simply isn't enough energy available, and AGAIN, the field lines don't intersect the high temperature volcanoes.
Theory is fine, but if your pet theory can't handle the observations, go back to the theory--the observations are rarely "wrong".
Not sure what the hell this has to do with plasma physics or MHD. Electrical currrents don't do a damned thing to effect morphology. Same with craters. Same with IMPACTS into comets and subsequent ejection of materials.
Are you really claiming that high energy particles accelerated by the nearly non-existant magnetic field of Mars is causing flat-bottomed craters?! Wow! They must be moving really fucking fast.
Not sure what you mean that "these guys" never studied plasma fluid dynamics. If by, "these guys", you mean planetary scientists, cosmologists, or astronomers (all VERY broad fields), "they" invented or extended just about any new branch physics (I'm talking real science, with perdictions and ways to test the predictions) you care to talk about.
Who the hell modded that post "insightful"?