On Monday, the Hubble spacecraft discovered further evidence of a subsurface ocean of liquid water on Jupiter's moon Europa. Now, a group of scientists has announced that Saturn's moon Dione may also have a subsurface ocean. Their results are published in the journal Geophysical Review Letters.

Back in 2014, scientists using the Cassini spacecraft to study one of Saturn's other moons, Enceladus, discovered that the moon experienced strange gravity fluctuations and wobbled as it spun. This was determined to be the result of a large ocean beneath the surface of the moon. The wobble happened because the water shifted and sloshed around.

A cutout of Saturn's moon Enceladus showing its subsurface ocean. A similar subsurface ocean is suspected to exist on Saturn's other moon Dione. NASA/JPL-Caltech

Now, observations from the same Cassini probe have discovered similar gravity fluctuations on Dione. These fluctuations are smaller and fainter than on Enceladus, but they could still hint at a liquid ocean hidden beneath the surface of this moon.

If this hypothesis is correct, then the ocean on Dione would lie about 62 miles below its surface. It would be several miles deep and would surround the moon's rocky core. The presence of this ocean would cause Dione to wobble too, just like Enceladus. However, the wobble would be too faint for Cassini to measure.

The scientists hope that a future mission to Saturn, with more sensitive equipment, could answer the question of whether there really is an ocean on Dione, and whether conditions might be right for life. Until then, all we can do is wait.

Source: Royal Observatory of Belgium via Gizmodo

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