Saturn's moon Enceladus spews out watery geysers today, but it can't have done so continuously throughout its lifetime, as there is no heat source to power the activity for so long. A new mechanism has been proposed to explain how the moon may freeze and thaw repeatedly (Image: Cassini Imaging Team/SSI/JPL/ESA/NASA)From New Scientist:
If there is life on Saturn's bizarre, water-spewing moon Enceladus, it's about to spend a lot of time in the freezer.
So concludes Norman Sleep of Stanford University, who says a perpetual cycle of melting and refreezing may offer the best explanation for why Enceladus seems so active today. In Sleep's scenario, Enceladus is now heading back into a long cold phase after a comparatively brief warm spell.
For any potential life on Enceladus, "it's boom and bust", says Sleep.
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