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Thin Oxygen-CO2 Atmosphere Discovered On Rhea

Posted by Soulskill on from the fo'-rhea dept.

Randyll writes "During its Saturn flyby in March, the Cassini space probe detected an oxygen-rich atmosphere on Rhea, Saturn's second-largest moon. While 100 times thinner than the atmospheres of Europa or Ganymede, Rhea's atmosphere contains a surprising amount of carbon dioxide. There is an explanation for the oxygen — the decomposition of surface ice — while the origin of the carbon dioxide is a mystery. A few of the possible explanations are that Rhea has carbon-rich organic molecules or that the gas is seeping from Rhea's interior. However, researchers have been unable to determine the exact source for the gas." While "richness" is relative — the study's abstract refers to Rhea's atmosphere as "tenuous," and oxygen concentrations are trillions of times lower there than they are on Earth — the finding still puts Rhea in rare company among the planets and moons of the solar system.

4 of 37 comments (clear)

  1. Isn't it obvious? by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Aliens who have died from lunar warming.

    1. Re:Isn't it obvious? by Daniel+Dvorkin · · Score: 3, Funny

      Man, you must have received a serious bulk discount on all that straw.

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      The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
  2. Oxygen? Carbon Dioxide? This means life! by multipartmixed · · Score: 2, Funny

    ..and I, for one, welcome our new oxygen-breathing overlords!

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    Do daemons dream of electric sleep()?
  3. Factoid! by Combatso · · Score: 3, Funny

    Cardbon Dioxide on Rhea is known as Dio-Rhea