Thursday, October 20, 2005

Tethys: A Frozen Oasis in the Desert of Space

I remember when scientists believed life would be found in Space when they found a water source someplace other than Earth. A distant planet, in some far away solar system, perhaps.

Today we know water is practically everywhere, including the giant ball of frozen water-ice known as Tethys. The Cassini probe recently brought us our first close-up views, confirming the content of the dirty snowball moon.
(Coincidentally, Tethys was first observed by Giovanni Cassini in 1684, for which the hardy probe was named.)

Now that we've found water, it's only a matter of time until we find extraterrestrial life.

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