Oct 10 - Alien Geysers and Life's Building Blocks

October 10 Alien Geysers and Life's Building Blocks by:

The geysers of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. These great plumes of water vapor erupt through fractures in the ice crust at this moon’s south pole. The Cassini spacecraft analyzed the plumes and found water vapor, ice particles, salts, methane and a variety of complex and simple organic molecules. Image via NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute.

These alien geysers spew life's building blocks Is the subsurface ocean on Saturn's moon Enceladus habitable? Could it be home to existing life forms? While we still don't know the answer to the second question, evidence continues to build that this small moon's ocean is habitable by earthly standards. This month, scientists announced another piece of the puzzle: the discovery of additional kinds of organic compounds that originate from Enceladus' ocean, and were found by the Cassini spacecraft to be gushing out through geysers at the moon's south pole. These compounds are the ingredients for amino acids, the building blocks of life on Earth. Read more. How deep is Earth's ocean? On average the ocean is 2.3 miles (3.7 km) deep, but many parts are much shallower or deeper. In the deepest zones, life forms have adapted to live in the dark, under crushing water pressure. Watch a cool video. What we're reading From the European Space Agency … Can Earth's oceans turn the tide on climate change? ESA wrote: "As we pump more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the world is warming at an alarming rate, with devastating consequences. While our vast oceans are helping to take the heat out of climate change, new research shows that they are absorbing a lot more atmospheric carbon dioxide than previously thought – but these positives may be outweighed by the downsides." Read more.

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Fogbow over New Mexico View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Mike Lewinski in Tres Piedras, New Mexico caught this fogbow on October 5. He wrote: "The sun finally broke through the fog and I went out to get a few photos ... Imagine my surprise when I turned around to see this fogbow! My LG G6 cell phone has a wide lens and was the only easy way to capture the whole thing in one photo." Thanks, Mike! Read about what makes a fogbow.

Autumn leaves in upstate New York View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Trees and sky, trees and water. Alice McClure wrote: “The last rays of sun lighting up the fall foliage on October 5, from Munter Trail, Potsdam, New York.” Thanks for sharing your photo with us, Alice! Learn why autumn leaves turn color. Submit your photo to EarthSky here! Did a friend forward EarthSkyNews to you? Click here to get your own subscription!

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