Space Water Spouting From Saturn's Moon Means Space Water!

A moon off Saturn is is spouting water in such a way as to indicate the presence of, you know, a whole bunch of water. Cameras on NASA’s Cassini probe (helmed by our favorite astronaut/rock star Dr. Carolyn Porco) first captured images of water vapor and ice particles shooting through cracks near the south pole of Enceladus, a small moon, about one-seventh the size of Earth’s, six years ago. But physical samples of stuff, taken more recently with an on-board plasma spectrometer (I totally have to get one of those) reveal the presence of negatively charged water particles-usually evidence of liquid water activity such as crashing waves.

“While it’s no surprise that there is water there, these short-lived ions are extra evidence for sub-surface water,” said Dr. Andrew Coates from University College London’s Mullard Space Science Laboratory. “And where there’s water, carbon and energy, some of the major ingredients for life are present.”

Spouting water, of course, generally indicates the presence of space dolphins. SPACE DOLPHINS!