Saturn's 'Death Star' Moon May Hide Subsurface Ocean

astroengine writes With its heavily cratered, geologically dead surface, Saturn's moon Mimas was considered to be scientifically boring. But appearances can be deceiving. Using data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft, new research shows something strange inside Mimas that is causing the moon to sway as it orbits around the ringed gas giant. Computer models point to two possibilities. First is that Mimas, which is about 250 miles in diameter, has an oblong or football-shaped core, a clue that the moon may have formed inside Saturn's ice rings. The second option is that Mimas has a global ocean located 16 miles to 19 miles beneath its icy crust.

Comments

The quesiton that interests me

[i kan reed]

can it have life? We know life on earth adapted to survive on sulfur vents, which means sunlight based energy isn't necessary for life to continue.

But what about abiogenesis? Miller-Urey showed us that lightning was a very important component in amino acids first appearing. Is there a tidal or geothermal way to cause the same thing?

I'm pretty interested in the possibility of liquid water alone being enough.