Sentences with phrase «beneath icy shells»

Ever since NASA's New Horizons spacecraft flew by Pluto last year, evidence has been mounting that the dwarf planet may have a liquid ocean beneath its icy shell.

Europa is thought to have an ocean of water beneath its icy shell.

The prime target of NASA's orbiter is Jupiter's moon Europa, which is thought to have an ocean of liquid water beneath its icy shell.

Beneath its icy shell, Jupiter's moon is thought to host a deep, salty ocean that could be one of the best places to look for life in the solar system.

Scientists announced Thursday that measurements from NASA's Cassini spacecraft detected hydrogen gas, a key energy source for microbial life, in a plume gushing from a vast liquid water ocean buried beneath the icy shell of Saturn's moon Enceladus.

The information Cassini gathered during these passes strongly suggests that Enceladus harbors a large ocean beneath its icy shell, and that this ocean might be able to support life as we know it, mission team members have said.

Not exact matches

But only recently have measurements confirmed that, beneath the moon's icy shell, an underground ocean spans the entire globe (SN: 10/17/15, p. 8).

Schimdt has found evidence that warm ocean currents and convective forces beneath Europa's frozen shell can cause large blocks of ice to overturn and melt, bringing vast pockets of water, sometimes holding as much liquid as all of the Great Lakes combined, to within several kilometers of the moon's icy surface.

BENEATH Enceladus's icy shell, way under its global sea, seems to be a core made of wet sand, which could host life between its grains.

As it orbits, Europa's icy surface heaves and falls with the pull of Jupiter's gravity, creating enough heat, scientists think, to support a global ocean beneath the moon's solid shell.

Sections of its icy shell slide beneath each other in a similar way to Earth's continents and ocean floors — which could provide nutrients to any life that might live under the ice.

Enceladus may be covered in an icy shell, but beneath the surface lies a globe - spanning liquid ocean about 37 miles (60 km) deep.