Snow on Saturn and the Abominable Snowman

If you missed this tidbit of information, scientists have discovered snow on Saturn's moon. Saturn's moon, Enceladus, appears to have a steady flow of light pink snow crystals. Researchers even believe that there may possibly be an underground ocean and that the "snow" may be comprised of salt water.

Bonnie Buratti of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, had this to say, "A year ago, we weren't completely sure that there was liquid water underneath the surface of Enceladus that was causing this and now we have new evidence to prove otherwise."

Apparently it has been doing this "snow" thing for millions of years but this is the first time one of our orbiters has been close enough to photograph it.

You can see the Saturn snow-covered moon pictures on National Geographic here.

It is NASA's Cassini orbiter that flew to within 60 miles of the surface of Enceladus. You can look here for information regarding the orbiter.

What is it about snow that fascinates us? I sat for hours last December and watched it fall and accumulate on the deck. It blankets everything and no two crystals are alike. The sun can melt away within hours what took days to accumulate. Shoveling it can cause weary muscles and heart attacks. Children love it as a medium to create sculptures.

According to scientific calculations, "The fine powder of ice crystals falls on Enceladus at a wimpy average rate of less than one thousandth of a millimeter per year." Not nearly enough to shovel but since this phenomenon has been occurring over the past millions of years, it may help the space exploration folks to determine if there is any extraterrestrial life on Saturn.

An another related snow story, the Huffington Post reported yesterday that the Abominable Snowman has been located, "The fabled Russian version of the Abominable Snowman or Bigfoot lives in the Kemerovo region of Siberia." You can read all about him here.

Maybe he can move to Saturn's moon if the search heats up and live out his days in pink paradise.

Sources:

http://www.nature.com/news/2011/111003/full/news.2011.569.html

http://news.discovery.com/space/saturn-moon-enceladus-111004.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/10/scientists-found-siberian-yeti_n_1003639.html#s388533

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/111003_enceladus.htm