Cassini finds global ocean containing vast reservoir of liquid water beneath Saturn’s moon.
Q. A global ocean containing vast reservoir of liquid water was found to lie beneath Saturn’s geologically active moon using research data from a NASA mission, on September 17 2015. What is the name of the moon and the mission?- Published on 18 Sep 15a. Enceladus and Cassini
b. Enceladus and New Horizons
c. Tethys and Cassini
d. Rhea and Cassini
ANSWER: Enceladus and Cassini
Researchers found that beneath its icy crust, Saturn’s moon Enceladus has a global ocean and the magnitude of its slight wobble as it orbits the planet can only mean its outer icy shell is not frozen solid. This implies spray of water vapour, icy particles and organic molecules observed from the south pole of the moon is being fed through this large water reservoir. Previous Cassini data analysis suggested presence of lens shaped body of water under the south polar region of this moon. Cassini has been orbiting Saturn since 2004. Saturn has 53 named moons and an additional 9 which are currently being studied. Some of its moons are even larger than planets. For example moon Titan is larger than planet Mercury.
