WHAT LIES BENEATH
Ocean full of alien life could be hiding on nearby icy moon system, say scientists in ‘incredibly surprising’ discovery
The ocean could be trapped under 19 miles of ice
AN ocean full of alien life could be hiding on an icy moon system not far from earth, in what scientists have called an "incredibly surprising" discovery.
The moon, named Miranda, orbits the planet Uranus - just 1.7 billion miles away in our very own solar system.
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It is now believed to have a hidden ocean, trapped under a layer of ice, according to a recent study.
The presence of water on the moon means it could harbour alien life.
No extra-terrestrial life has ever been discovered by scientists, but it could include intelligent, non-human beings.
The ocean could be as large as 62 miles deep, underneath an icy crust that's 19 miles thick.
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Planetary scientist Tom Nordheim, who did the study along with fellow scientists Caleb Strom and Alex Patthoff, expressed his astonishment at the findings.
He said: "To find evidence of an ocean inside a small object like Miranda is incredibly surprising.
"It helps build on the story that some of these moons at Uranus may be really interesting – that there may be several ocean worlds around one of the most distant planets in our solar system, which is both exciting and bizarre."
Mr Strom echoed: "The suggestion of an ocean inside one of the most distant moons in the solar system is remarkable."
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The trio used images captured by a Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1986 to technologically map out Miranda's geological past.
As they modelled the moon's contours, they saw shapes on the its surface similar to a patchwork.
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They believe this could signal that a subsurface ocean may have been formed between 100 and 500 million years ago.
Equally remarkable was the discovery that this ocean might have stayed warm enough to remain liquid, despite the moon being a significant distance from the Sun.
This is due to a friction build-up between Miranda and about 27 neighbouring moons also orbiting Uranus - generating heat.
Mr Nordheim urged for further research in this area, adding that he and his colleagues were "squeezing the last bit of science we can from Voyager 2's images".
It comes as Nasa discovered mysterious green dots on Mars, which could also point to the presence of alien life.
Meanwhile, the space agency also described the planet Kepler-70b, which is also believed to possibly have alien life, as "another circle of hell" - with temperatures "hotter than the Sun".
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