Saturn's Moon May Have 'Slushy Tunnels' With Alien Life, Study Finds

A new study allegedly finds that one of Saturn's moons may contain 'slushy tunnels' that can potentially host alien life.

The moon that scientists are focused on is Titan, which also happens to be Saturn's largest moon. The study in question, was published on 17 December in the journal Nature, suggesting that there is more to Titan than previously studied. In particular, according to researchers, the moon contains 'slushy tunnels and pockets of meltwater.'

The Slushy Tunnels

'Instead of an open ocean like we have here on Earth, we're probably looking at something more like Arctic sea ice or aquifers, which has implications for what type of life we might find,' the study's co-author Baptiste Journaux, an assistant professor of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington said in a statement. 'Also the availability of nutrients, energy, and so on.'

The study's researchers also found that underneath Titan's surface, the moon contains ice, meltwater pockets, and a slushier environment compared to what was observed in 2008. Water is believed to be present in the slush, but the researchers found that it may not be as liquid as an open ocean. The researchers made use of radio-wave observations as well as thermodynamic models from Journaux's lab to study how water, minerals, and other elements behave in environments like Titan's.

'The water layer on Titan is so thick, the pressure is so immense that the physics of water changes,' said Journaux. 'Water and ice behave in a different way than sea water here on Earth.'

Better Than an Ocean for Alien Life?

As to how it may affect the ongoing search for life outside Earth, the researchers said that the findings in their study 'expands the range of environments we might consider habitable.'

Further, the researchers noted that 'pockets of freshwater' may be present in Titan at temperatures of 20 degrees Celsius. Any nutrients that may be present are likely to be found in pools of water on Titan. This would suggest that the environment may pose more favourable conditions for life compared to a less-concentrated ocean.

The NASA Cassini Observation

The study references a past observation by NASA and its Cassini spacecraft. Cassini, which was launched in 1997 to observe Saturn and its moons. According to the study's authors, Cassini observed Titan 'stretching and smushing' as it circled around Saturn. At the time, the researchers suggested that if Titan contained an ocean underneath the surface, then it would cause the crust to flex under the pull from Saturn's gravity.

The researchers factored in the times Titan has flexed on its journey around Saturn. They found that Titan's shape changes 15 hours in its orbit after the strongest gravitational pull by Saturn. The researchers then estimated the energy needed for Titan's shape to change, which revealed a little more about its exterior.

'Nobody was expecting a very strong energy dissipation inside Titan,' said Flavio Petricca, a lead study author in NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in the statement. 'That was the smoking gun indicating that Titan's interior is different from what was inferred from previous analyses.'