Oxygen found on Saturn's moon Rhea

[Saturn]

I think this is awesome, finally proof of oxygen on other worlds.

A spacecraft has tasted oxygen in the atmosphere of another world for the first time while flying low over Saturn's icy moon, Rhea.

Nasa's Cassini probe scooped oxygen from the thin atmosphere of the planet's moon while passing overhead at an altitude of 97km in March this year.

Until now, wisps of oxygen have only been detected on planets and their moons indirectly, using the Hubble space telescope and other major facilities.

Instruments aboard Cassini revealed an extremely thin oxygen and carbon dioxide atmosphere that is sustained by high-energy particles slamming into the moon's surface and kicking up atoms, molecules and ions.

Astronomers have counted 62 moons orbiting Saturn. At 1500km wide, Rhea is the second largest and is thought to be made almost entirely of ice.

Read More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/nov/25/oxygen-saturn-moon-rhea

[Perseus]

That is awesome. I wonder what scientists could be thinking right now. :rolleyes:

[Tristin.]

Aliens!!! :p

[Saturn]

That is awesome. I wonder what scientists could be thinking right now. :rolleyes:

To send a probe there?

[Perseus]

To send a probe there?

Aliens... -_-

[Tristin.]

sorry lol

[Sith Lord 13]

Aliens... -_-

What was that about anal probing?

[hotandgay]

well i think were moving :)

[Jess]

that is just awesome. there has to be life on the moon then

[hotandgay]

But you know if there is something on other planets its going to change everything the good will get scared and the bad will get stronger....or the good will fight and then evolving will occur...or even worse shit....i really hope nothing is out there not in fear but i don't want change yet i mean like obma or what ever his name i still am trying to get use to his "changes" lol

[Sage]

I think you all missed the part where they said the moon is thought to be made entirely of ice. You're not going to find any life arising from pure solid ice and nothing else, nor would this be a good place to colonize.

[Amnesiac]

Interesting, but the chances of there actually being life on Rhea are still amazingly small.

[Daniel_]

If we colonize, it will probably be on that other planet they just discovered.

I forget what they called it, but they said that it is highly possible that the planet has an atmosphere that is almost identical to Earth.

The crazy part is, it's not even that far away from us. Only 20 Light years, which seems far, but in astronomical terms, it's really not.

Some day, eventually, we might even be able to visit the planet, if not by man, but by satellite.

[hotandgay]

Hello people live in Alaska so i do think there can be life on that planet...lol

[Sage]

Hello people live in Alaska so i do think there can be life on that planet...lol

http://marymo.net/mm_blog/wordpress-content/uploads/2010/01/headdesk.jpg

[hotandgay]

lol...but just because its super cold dosnt mean anything....if we evolved why cant other forms of life?

[Sage]

lol...but just because its super cold dosnt mean anything....

There is a profound difference between a planet being very cold and a planet being made purely of fucking ice.

[Amnesiac]

lol...but just because its super cold dosnt mean anything....if we evolved why cant other forms of life?

Because, as far as we know, there are requirements for life to form. Such as:

- the right level of sunlight
- the right mix of atmospheric gases
- presence of water
- stable climate
- lack of natural disasters
- a fucking monolith (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001:_A_Space_Odyssey_(film))

[Sage]

- a fucking monolith (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001:_A_Space_Odyssey_(film))

You, sir, have made my day.

[Amnesiac]

You, sir, have made my day.

Just doing my job.

[hotandgay]

GRRR someone is getting angry so im just going to say one thing ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE and having said that i will no longer visit this thread

[Amnesiac]

GRRR someone is getting angry so im just going to say one thing ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE and having said that i will no longer visit this thread

What really disappoints me is that it sounds like you haven't watched 2001: A Space Odyssey.

"Anything is possible" is just a optimistic little phrase anyway, we all know it's not true.

[Sage]

ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE

Not really.

[Deathwingo0o]

Because, as far as we know, there are requirements for life to form. Such as:

- the right level of sunlight
- the right mix of atmospheric gases
- presence of water
- stable climate
- lack of natural disasters
- a fucking monolith (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001:_A_Space_Odyssey_(film))

Evolving in the sense that changing basic surviving requirements.

[Amnesiac]

Evolving in the sense that changing basic surviving requirements.

Well, for basic life to form in the first place, as far as we know, those are some requirements. Sure, life could adapt to different conditions, but for it to exist in the first place those requirements would probably have to be met.

[Bougainvillea]

that is just awesome. there has to be life on the moon then Not neccessarily. We don't know that other living organisms require oxygen. For all we know, if there was any other alien organisms, they could be a nitrogen based life form. Don't jump to conclusions.

[Sage]

Not neccessarily. We don't know that other living organisms require oxygen. For all we know, if there was any other alien organisms, they could be a nitrogen based life form. Don't jump to conclusions.

It's a giant spherical ice cube. There's not going to be life there.

[Daniel_]

Hello people live in Alaska so i do think there can be life on that planet...lol

Wow... And theres a classic stereo type of Alaska.

You think it's all ice? Alaska has VOLCANOES. That ERUPT. BURNING LAVA.

Know what, I don't feel like explaining, so I'll show you pictures of Alaska.

A beautiful, UNFROZEN sunset in Alaska:
http://i55.tinypic.com/iz3re9.jpg

This is a picture of Mount Redoubt in Alaska, erupting and being unfrozen.
http://i56.tinypic.com/rc0xh5.jpg

Look at this whale, swimming in the unfrozen waters of Alaska.
http://i56.tinypic.com/2ajnbsy.jpg


My point? Theres a difference between COMPLETELY frozen, and PARTIALLY frozen.

[Kahn]

That's the ignorance of humanity. Oxygen automatically means life.

Does Sage have to stress this anymore? The thing is an ice cube floating in space. Do you remember how we need food to live? Oh, that tiny little bit of nutrition helps us function. Sure, you can eat ice, but you're not really eating anything. It may give you the false sensation of satisfying your hunger, but that is highly unlikely. If life were able to evolve on the floating ice rock, it would surely be exterminated.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/105/311241130_3884035b46_m.jpg
God tricked us.

[Chris_Likes_Drums]

It's a giant spherical ice cube. There's not going to be life there.

Space yeti's? :D

Haha :)

[Continuum]

Space yeti's? :D

Haha :)

Space yetis or not, they still need organic substances to sustain themselves.

[Peace God]

Space yeti's
Damn son...he single handedly destroyed all of you guys' arguments... Fucking space yetis. :cool:

[Sith Lord 13]

Space yetis or not, they still need organic substances to sustain themselves.

Not necessarily. There could easily be microbes there which are not carbon based and so not need carbon to survive.

[Chris_Likes_Drums]

I thought it was funny :) Wasn't serious or anything, but yetis like the cold :P

[Continuum]

Not necessarily. There could easily be microbes there which are not carbon based and so not need carbon to survive.

In turn, they need something that they are based on, like our need for other Carbon-based life for subsistence.

[OrangeBanana]

Who says they are carbon-based. They might not even need Oxygen. They could be invisible ninjas on any planet and guess what... WE WOULDN'T EVEN KNOW... until they blow us up! BOOM!


**PS Sorry for the ranting of non-sense, I needed to do it at least once on this forum..

[Magus]

Who says they are carbon-based. They might not even need Oxygen. They could be invisible ninjas on any planet and guess what... WE WOULDN'T EVEN KNOW... until they blow us up! BOOM!

They could be sulphur-based like the one that are speculated to live on Titan.

[Peace God]

There this one moon that's supposed to have water on the inside and ice on the surface. This happens because the orbit of the planet isn't centered correctly (im trying to figure out how to describe it but think hard boiled egg). The unusual orbit and the strength of gravity cause the core of the moon to be constantly stretched and compressed. Because of this, the center of the planet gets hotter, melting the ice beneath the surface into water.

Scienists believe that there might be life there.

I really wish i could remember the name of that moon. :(

[ShatteredWings]

Not necessarily. There could easily be microbes there which are not carbon based and so not need carbon to survive.

organic =/=(necessailry) carbon, if we're refering to non-earth lifeforms.

[Sage]

Space yetis

http://seo2.0.onreact.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/star-wars-chewbacca-and-buddy.jpg

[Perseus]

There this one moon that's supposed to have water on the inside and ice on the surface. This happens because the orbit of the planet isn't centered correctly (im trying to figure out how to describe it but think hard boiled egg). The unusual orbit and the strength of gravity cause the core of the moon to be constantly stretched and compressed. Because of this, the center of the planet gets hotter, melting the ice beneath the surface into water.

Scienists believe that there might be life there.

I really wish i could remember the name of that moon. :(

Enceladus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enceladus_(moon)) is the moon.

[ummidk]

aliens!!!!!!!!!!!

[poindexter]

la de da. it is to cold and to far for colonization.

[Peace God]

Enceladus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enceladus_(moon)) is the moon.
Yup, think that's the one.

[Clawhammer]

Oxygen isn't the only ingredient in our atmosphere. Still interesting.

[Continuum]

They could be sulphur-based like the one that are speculated to live on Titan.

Or maybe Silica, who knows. I'm excited to know. :rolleyes:

[poindexter]

most likely any kind of alien life would be a bacteria that lives off of methane not oxygen.

[Daniel_]

most likely any kind of alien life would be a bacteria that lives off of methane not oxygen.

I'm sure thats what the hyper-evolved nocturnal species residing on the planet of Nublaria think about us.

You can't assume anything, at all, ever. Assume makes an ass out of you, and me.

[poindexter]

http://www.insidescience.org/1.1777

[Sage]

You can't assume anything, at all, ever. Assume makes an ass out of you, and me.

That phrase makes an ass out of you. Period. :P
notice how i include a ridiculous emoticon to skirt infractions

[poindexter]

Burn

[Daniel_]

That phrase makes an ass out of you. Period. :P
notice how i include a ridiculous emoticon to skirt infractions

I didn't say it, it was alllll Stephen King >.>

[Pudd]

I think everyone is missing the vital point here.
You can't live from Oxygen. That would end up killing you.
It needs to be air. A small percentage of which is made up of Oxygen. There is more Nitrogen in air than there is Oxygen.

[Suicune]

http://www.insidescience.org/1.1777
If Rhea were made of Phosphorus or Arsenic, and not California, or ice, maybe that'd be a presentable piece.

I think everyone is missing the vital point here.
You can't live from Oxygen. That would end up killing you.
It needs to be air. A small percentage of which is made up of Oxygen. There is more Nitrogen in air than there is Oxygen.

The vital point has been made many posts back.
Life's existence there is very much implausible. Even if there is air.

[ndguy245]

I think this is amazing.

[poindexter]

I think everyone is missing the vital point here.
You can't live from Oxygen. That would end up killing you.
It needs to be air. A small percentage of which is made up of Oxygen. There is more Nitrogen in air than there is Oxygen.

What do you think is in an Oxygen Tank that they give you in the hospital. YOur statement is invalid think before typing.

[Cryofthewolf]

...That's pretty awesome. Haha maybe we will make some extra terrestrial friends sometime in the future. x-D

[TDjinN95]

Once we meet hostile aliens, we humans will bring out the big guns - Sigourney Weaver!

[Pudd]

What do you think is in an Oxygen Tank that they give you in the hospital. YOur statement is invalid think before typing.

I don't know which hospital you go to, but I recommend not going there for extensive treatment.

[ShatteredWings]

I don't know which hospital you go to, but I recommend not going there for extensive treatment.

... They aren't giving you PURE oxygen. They're giving you extra oxygen because, generally, when you're in intencive care you're not breathing as well as you could be and the oxygen tanks (which are pure oxygen, by the way. Hence the "absolutely no smoking" in oxyngenated rooms") are suplimenting the air.

High oxygen atmosphres aren't bad for you. Coming from a high to low could be a bitch though.

[poindexter]

... They aren't giving you PURE oxygen. They're giving you extra oxygen because, generally, when you're in intencive care you're not breathing as well as you could be and the oxygen tanks (which are pure oxygen, by the way. Hence the "absolutely no smoking" in oxyngenated rooms") are suplimenting the air.

High oxygen atmosphres aren't bad for you. Coming from a high to low could be a bitch though.

At least some one understands this.

[Sith Lord 13]

High oxygen atmosphres aren't bad for you.

Unless it's too high, in which case it could cause blindness, convulsions, and death.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen_toxicity