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The weekly newsletter for Fed2 by ibgamesEARTHDATE: November 28, 2010
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REAL LIFE NEWS: RHEA MAY HAVE BREATHABLE ATMOSPHEREby HazedThe Cassini probe has recently sent back information about Rhea, one of Saturn's moons, which shows it has an atmosphere containing oxygen and carbon dioxide. It's very similar to Earth's atmosphere and suggests there may be life on the moon. It also means it's just possible humans could breathe the air! Oxgyen turns out to be a lot more abundant than we ever expected, particularly on moons that are frozen solid right through. Previously, evidence of oxygen on Jupiter's moons Europa and Ganymede has excited scientists - and now it turns out Rhea joins the club. In fact, more of Saturn's icy moons may have atmospheres of their own, because the region of space surrounding the planet's rings has an oxygen atmosphere. The new data from Cassini shows that Rhea's thin atmosphere is kept up by the constant chemical decomposition of ice water on its surface. Saturn's fierce magnetosphere constantly irradiates this ice water, which likely what helps to maintain the atmosphere. Researchers reckon there's a lot of oxygen locked up inside Rhea's frozen oceans. The carbon dioxide is a bit more of a mystery. Scientists speculate that it's likely created by reactions between organic molecules and oxidants on the surface of the moon, much as happened on Earth a few billion years ago or thereabouts. So there could be life there - certainly the basic necessities, the building blocks for life, are present. This is an exciting discovery! |
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