Bizarre boulders litter Saturn moon's icy surface (Enceladus)

New Scientist ^ | 7/19/05 | Stuart Clark

[Little Pig]

Our Moon is actually quite dark. It only seems bright in comparison to the surrounding sky. Venus is far brighter, as are several other objects including Europa and Enceladus.

[edcoil]

Ever wonder what a foreign probe would find swooping the grand canyon? - I wonder if they would call is "bizarre boulders" or majestic view?

[LibWhacker]

Had to look this up:

albedo... n : the ratio of reflected to incident light

So the albedo of a celestial body isn't a measure of the total brightness of the body, but a measure of its reflectivity as a percentage of incident radiation. Thanks for bringing this up!... I learned something today, too. :-)

[RightWhale]

The first forms of colony life on earth were formations like toadstools. Could the boulders be concretions made by lifeforms--bacteria?

[COBOL2Java]

What, the highest libdo you say?

No, that would be the moon Clintobius.

[COBOL2Java]

That looks like my cat's litter box. You decide...

[Graymatter]

Caramba! Some big enchiladas there!

[BenLurkin]

"And this raises the possibility that Enceladus could possess a sub-surface ocean similar to that on Jupiter's moon Europa."

Has the latter ever really been established?

Or are the "scientists" piling theories on top of hypotheses on top of guesses (again)?

[Physicist]

Ooh, Moravian sugar cake! Just look at that crumb topping. The butter holes are the best part, though.

[LibWhacker]

I just saw something about that on the Science Channel last week. They spoke of it as if it were an established fact (based, I think, on a quick and dirty radar study of the moon). They did make the point, however, that the depth of the "ocean" wasn't known, nor is it known whether or not the ocean is slushy ice all the way down to the seabed or liquid at some point below the surface. I think all the 'ifs,' 'ands,' and 'buts' clearly puts it in the realm of educated speculation at this point.

[LibWhacker]

Now you've made me hungry! :-)

[LibWhacker]

Very beautiful moon, if you ask me. Here's another pic (false color) from the flyby on March 9, 2005.

[BenLurkin]

Well . . . let's send up a manned mission I guess and drill cores. 8^)

[Porterville]

[Maceman]

Well, since you guys are into things that look like cat litter or cake, you'll probably LOVE this

[cmsgop]

LOL! Good One

[LibWhacker]

I'm not hungry anymore, thanks.

[AntiGuv]

That crossed my mind! Seems conceivable at the very least, and it'd certainly be a most unexpected discovery. Alas, some unidentified geologic process seems far, far more plausible.