Water the Odds?
Pluto's companion Charon might be covered with active volcanoes of ammonia-rich water spewing forth from the moon's deep interior.
"If New Horizons does show Charon to be volcanically active, the implications for the outer solar system are staggering. There are a few other small worlds in the solar system that are known to be currently or recently active, notably Jupiters moons Io and Europa, and Saturn's moon Enceladus. In these three cases, tidal forces between a giant planet and its moons are invoked to explain the source of energy that drives the geologic activity. But the scenario outlined in Cook's paper doesn't require tidal heating; Charon is quite capable of supplying the necessary energy on its own.
Spectrally speaking, Charon appears typical of medium-sized Kuiper belt objects, of which there are a great many. What's true of Charon may also be true on other worlds such as Orcus, Quaoar, and 2003 EL61. "The possibility is raised," Cook and coauthors write, "that there is more liquid water in the Kuiper belt than on Earth." And that liquid water may be spewing forth from volcanoes on dozens of active worlds in the distant reaches of the solar system. "
From The Planetary Society via
james_nicoll
And in my humble opinion that makes Panspermia even more likely. I'm a firm believer that where we find liquid water, we'll find life.
"If New Horizons does show Charon to be volcanically active, the implications for the outer solar system are staggering. There are a few other small worlds in the solar system that are known to be currently or recently active, notably Jupiters moons Io and Europa, and Saturn's moon Enceladus. In these three cases, tidal forces between a giant planet and its moons are invoked to explain the source of energy that drives the geologic activity. But the scenario outlined in Cook's paper doesn't require tidal heating; Charon is quite capable of supplying the necessary energy on its own.
Spectrally speaking, Charon appears typical of medium-sized Kuiper belt objects, of which there are a great many. What's true of Charon may also be true on other worlds such as Orcus, Quaoar, and 2003 EL61. "The possibility is raised," Cook and coauthors write, "that there is more liquid water in the Kuiper belt than on Earth." And that liquid water may be spewing forth from volcanoes on dozens of active worlds in the distant reaches of the solar system. "
From The Planetary Society via
james_nicoll
And in my humble opinion that makes Panspermia even more likely. I'm a firm believer that where we find liquid water, we'll find life.