Saturn's Moon Dione May Have An Underground Ocean
Saturn's moon Dione Icy Dione in front of Saturn. The horizontal stripes near the bottom of the image are Saturn's rings. Images taken on Oct. 11, 2005, with blue, green and infrared spectral filters were used to create this color view, which approximates the scene as it would appear to the human eye. NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute A NASA spacecraft has found evidence of geological activity under the surface of the icy moon. A phrase to make your ears perk up: Yet another of Saturn's moons may have "astrobiological potential," NASA scientists have announced. The agency's Cassini spacecraft recently captured evidence that there once was-and may still be-a subterranean ocean on the ringed planet's icy satellite Dione. The 700-mile-diameter moon is home to a 500-mile mountain called Janiculum Dorsa (see photo below). Images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft show the surface of the moon puckering nearly 0.3 miles under the mountain, a clue that...