While we contemplate the frailty of our atmosphere, it seems like a good time to review other possible places to live in our solar system.
While not useful for humans, new research published in the journal Icarus by Alyssa Rose Rhoden and Matthew Walker details evidence that Saturn’s moon Mimas may have a subsurface ocean.
Most famous for its Death Star-like appearance, this small moon, almost nine times smaller than Earth’s Moon, was briefly explored by the Cassini mission and found to be oscillating in a way indicative of a liquid core. Tidal heating, the regular gravitational squishing of this world, can generate enough heat to keep the insides of this world warm. If the moon’s wobble and the effects of tidal heating are correctly understood, it would mean this world has a 24-31 kilometer thick shell of ice surrounding a massive ocean and a warm core, meaning there could be life.
So, if you are trying to count how many places in our solar system could have life, and I admit, I have given up, you can add one to your surprisingly large list of places.
More Information
An Ocean May Lurk Inside Saturn’s ‘Death Star’ Moon (The New York Times)
“The case for an ocean-bearing Mimas from tidal heating analysis,” Alyssa Rose Rhodena and Matthew E. Walker, 2022 January 4, Icarus
