earthquake.usgs Map EQ.usgs EQ Top 10 Lists & Maps seismicity Earth Seismicity 1900-2012 Damaging EQ US (1750-1996) Real-time Feeds & Notify KML Format Significant EQ Archive [by Yr] Info by Region sitenav-hazards US Region New Mardid Watch : MO - KY - AR - TN - IL ] Data Products Live EQ Map iris.edu EQ Seismic Monitor world-EQ emsc-csem.org

Other Sources emsc-csem.org WW exploratorium.edu liveeye earthquaketrack EQ Notification Service ENS [Text or Email] World Major Earthquakes Map World's EQ TO 1898 earthwaves.org - history Solar Activity Cause EQ? Space Climatology Space Weather Applications Northern Gulf Coast Climate Variability EQ timeline Monitoring History Timeline Historic World EQs - non maintained BBC History of deadly earthquakes Wiki-List EQ Japan Wiki-List EQ USA

Sunspots - Ham : solarham.net -- hfradio.org propagation solarmonitor.or spaceweathermonitor-sunspots spaceweathermonitor solen.info-sola Real-time plots auroral activity spaceweatherlive English stanford.edu - sunspots Tesis Russia [English] :Sunflares - Active Areas solar-flares.info nationalgeo solar-storms Catastrophic Solar Megastorm by 2020 - wired Massive Solar Flare Misses US - pcmag nwra nasa soho Realtime : gif - mpeg

soho.nascom.nasa-spaceweather swpc.noaa.gov - Spaceweather Now Today's Space Weather ips.gov.au Mt.Wilson Drawing-astro.ucla.edu iceagenow Fading Spots Signal Drop? 11 Jun 14,2011 Weak solar cycle Dec 11, 2013 NASA Warns 8 Mar 2013 Google Spot count pics Sunspot Cycle NASA Wiki - Sunspot Wiki - Sun Realtime spaceweathergallery Tornado - Severe Weather : Hurricane : Comets & Astroids & Space Rocks :

Counterstrike Links

Chapter 1, Section 2:

WSO-Polar Fields: http://www.leif.org/research/WSO-Polar-Fields-since-2003.png
Solar Polar Fields 1966 to Now: http://www.leif.org/research/Solar-Polar-Fields-1966-now.png
CO2, Methane, Temp for 400k Yrs: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-StLFXcpY8T0/TptEmTYnseI/AAAAAAAAAfg/yRYUhLyOT_0/s1600/Vostok_420ky_4curves_insolation.jpg
Updated Atmospheric CO2: http://co2now.org
CO2 breaks the Temp Correlation: http://www.southwestclimatechange.org/files/cc/figures/icecore_records.jpg
Longer CO2/Temp Timelines: http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/Carboniferous_climate.html
Misguided Climate Data: http://www.climate.gov
Irish Times Ice Age Article: http://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/sun-s-bizarre-activity-may-trigger-another-ice-age-1.1460937
US Climate Records: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/extremes/records/
Magnetic Models: http://cires.colorado.edu/index.html and http://wdc.kugi.kyoto-u.ac.jp/igrf/anime/index.html
Cosmic Rays vs Solar Indices: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/SpaceEnvironmentOverview_From_19830101.jpg
NASA provided the bulk of this material: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/08jan_sunclimate/ ; http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/solar-minima.html ; http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/392338main_DaveVis12WhatDoesItMean.jpg ; http://science1.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2003/29dec_magneticfield/ ; http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/gallery/heliosphere.jpg

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/08jan_sunclimate/

Cosmic Ray Links: http://calderup.wordpress.com/category/3c-falsification-tests/ ; http://scitech.au.dk/en/current-affairs/news/show/artikel/scientists-at-aarhus-university-au-and-the-national-space-institute-dtu-space-show-that-particle/ ; http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/05/17/new-study-links-cosmic-rays-to-aerosolscloud-formation-via-solar-magnetic-activity-modulation/ ; http://www.leif.org/EOS/Cloud%20Cover%20and%20Cosmic%20Rays.pdf ; http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/11/2697/2011/acpd-11-2697-2011.pdf ; http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090801095810.htm

Solar Minimum:

http://www.ips.gov.au/Solar/1/6

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2009/01apr_deepsolarminimum/

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2008/30sep_blankyear/

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/solar-minima.html

CO2 Data: http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/Carboniferous_climate.html ; http://earthsky.org/earth/noaa-releases-the-2012-arctic-report-card ; http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-StLFXcpY8T0/TptEmTYnseI/AAAAAAAAAfg/yRYUhLyOT_0/s1600/Vostok_420ky_4curves_insolation.jpg ; http://www.southwestclimatechange.org/files/cc/figures/icecore_records.jpg ; http://co2now.org

Climate History: http://worldview3.50webs.com/6globalwarming.html ; http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00411.1?af=R
Climate Data: http://www.climate.gov/#dataServices
Collapsing Atmosphere: http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/07/16/nasa.upper.atmosphere.shrinking/index.html

Magnetic Field Failing: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3359555.stm ; http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2008/16dec_giantbreach/ ; http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/05/magnetic-field-1.html ; http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/09/0909_040909_earthmagfield.html ; http://geomag.org/info/declination.html ; http://wdc.kugi.kyoto-u.ac.jp/igrf/anime/index.html

Magnetic Pole Flip: http://news.discovery.com/earth/earth-magnetic-field-north-110304.html ; http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2003/29dec_magneticfield/ ; http://news.discovery.com/earth/earth-atmosphere-shrinking.html

ENA: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2009/15oct_ibex/ ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ENAs_Impact_Titan_Atmpsphere.jpg ; http://science.nasa.gov/media/medialibrary/2009/10/15/15oct_ibex_resources/392339main2_DaveVis12WhatDoesItMeanThumb.jpg

Weather Modification Links: http://coto2.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/atmospheric-geoengineering.jpg ; http://justmeint.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/solar-radiation-management.jpg ; http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2009/oct/01/china-cloud-seeding-parade ; http://dvice.com/archives/2011/01/did-scientists.php ; http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/haarp/index.html ; http://wwwppd.nrl.navy.mil/whatsnew/haarp/ ; http://www.hangthebankers.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/HAARP1.jpg ; http://www.colinandrews.net/OtherCircles.html ; http://2012indyinfo.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/dallas-radar-ring-april-19-20-1024×6121.png ; http://sincedutch.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/des-moines-haarp-flash-radar-ring-may-15-2011.jpg?w=866&h=718&h=718

More:

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Venus_Express/The_fast_winds_of_Venus_are_getting_faster

http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/images/ssn_recent2.gif

http://www.ips.gov.au/Solar/1/6

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2009/01apr_deepsolarminimum/

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2008/30sep_blankyear/

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/solar-minima.html

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2003/29dec_magneticfield/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3359555.stm

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/09/0909_040909_earthmagfield.html

http://phys.org/news8917.html

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/05/magnetic-field-1.html

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/06/080630-earth-core.html

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2008/16dec_giantbreach/

http://news.discovery.com/earth/earth-magnetic-field-north-110304.html

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2008/30oct_ftes/

http://www.agu.org/news/press/pr_archives/2012/2012-19.shtml

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/multimedia/pia13763.html

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/19may_saturnstorm/

http://www.science20.com/news_articles/now_broadcasting_radio_jupiter-93369

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/20may_loststripe/

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2006/02mar_redjr/

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/media/cassini-062804.html

http://www.universetoday.com/93494/is-venus-rotation-slowing-down/

http://dvice.com/archives/2012/09/video-jupiter-t.php

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/2012/09/explosion-spotted-on-jupiter-a-comet-or-asteroid/

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2009/15oct_ibex/

http://news.discovery.com/earth/earth-atmosphere-shrinking.html

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070228-mars-warming.html






















DOES THE SUN TRIGGER LARGE EARTHQUAKES? 
Potential Correlation Between +M8 Earthquakes and Solar Polar Fields
Picture
(August 3, 2014 – Columbus, OH) KAHB LLC announces the discovery of a potential method for predicting the largest (+M8) earthquakes, using polar magnetic fields of the sun.

Using more than 35 years of data from the Wilcox Solar Observatory at Stanford University and from the United States Geological Survey, a model was constructed using patterns discerned in the polar magnetic fields of the sun. These patterns in solar magnetism were informally observed to match with the occurrence of large earthquakes on our planet, so mathematical modeling was used to formally develop an algorithm describing those relationships.

Dr. Christopher Holloman’s team of researchers at The Ohio State University Statistical Consulting Service was able to construct model a that exhibited very strong agreement between solar magnetism patterns and the occurrence of large earthquakes. Formal testing of the model can only be performed by examining its performance over the next few years, but the agreement was sufficient to suggest that a relationship likely exists between solar polar fields, or magnetic fields associated with the north and south poles of the sun, and large earthquakes.

“The strong agreement of the model was surprising to everyone involved,” says Ben Davidson of KAHB, “but we have to understand the limitations of the analysis at this stage.” According to Davidson, this model is not predictive at this time; the analysis relies on data from the Wilcox Solar Observatory which requires at least 10 days to update past real-time, and is usually updated monthly. “The data is averaged in 10-day periods, so when a large earthquake happens, we still need to perform a retrospective analysis. What we have now is a rubric for gauging the correlations between these events into the future.”

“The most striking aspect of the model is that it is, for the most part, relatively simple,” says Dr. Holloman. “The patterns observed in the solar magnetic fields aren’t the result of applying some obscure mathematical functions. The algorithm is based on things like peaks and troughs in solar cycles or the absolute strength of one of the poles at a particular time. Such simple models are more often predictive than more complex models, and we are eager to see how the predictions play out over the next few years.”

In this retrospective analysis, the null hypothesis was that there was no relationship between the solar polar fields and M8+ earthquakes. Under this hypothesis, the fraction of days identified as residing in windows with increased likelihood of seismicity, as a percentage of the total days over the 35 years, would include a similar percentage of the large earthquakes over that same period. The analysis showed 41.6% of the days residing in these windows captured just under 78.8% of the M8+ earthquakes. “We cannot formally invalidate the null hypothesis, but the performance of the developed model is extremely encouraging. We believe it is likely to be validated by future data.”

As interesting as predicting large earthquakes would be, the lone prospective aspect of the model thus far involves periods of time when +M8 earthquakes are less likely to occur. These periods tend to occur following magnetic reversal of the solar fields at the sunspot peak of the ~11-year cycle of the sun, and could have significant implications for civil engineering projects near earthquake zones, mining, drilling, and other applications for which it may be advantageous to know when earth is less-likely to have a large earthquake.

Dr. Kongpop U-yen states that this analysis “suggests that their [M8+ earthquakes] major trigger mechanisms are external to the Earth. This may be linked to the electrical connections between the Earth and the Sun. Many seismologists have detected the fluctuation in electric fields in the Earth’s crust associated with earthquakes. Such an idea can be extended beyond the Earth’s crust toward the ionosphere and Van Allen radiation belts as they all move along together. NASA scientists also hypothesize that there are giant electric fields that power the Van Allen radiation belts, and have suggested that the Sun is the major contributor.” The connection is no longer limited to the surrounding space or Earth’s atmosphere, but to the penetration toward the Earth’s core as well. “After looking at the complete data set, it is not difficult for anyone to see that there is a connection. To be sure we did not fool ourselves, we back up this finding using verifiable statistical analysis.”

Earth’s magnetosphere has been weakening since the 1600s, and Dr. U-yen is curious about the recent results from the ESA’s SWARM mission having a role to play in these earthquake correlations; “recently Earth’s magnetic fields are weakening more rapidly than in the past, making us more susceptible to space weather than ever before.”

The group is preparing a manuscript for submission based on the results of the study, which they hope will be accepted for publication shortly thereafter. Commenting further on the simplicity of the algorithm, Davidson notes, “We look at peaks in polar force and reversal of polarity – it really is that simple.”

Dr. Holloman is Director of the Statistical Consulting Service (SCS). The SCS is a team of faculty, staff, and graduate students in the Department of Statistics at The Ohio State University. Their mission is to provide professional statistical consulting support to OSU researchers and external clients in business, science, industry, and government. The SCS provides support in the areas of research planning; design of experiments; database development; survey design, administration, and analysis; statistical process control; and statistical modeling and analysis. http://www.scs.osu.edu
Dr Holloman’s Bio: http://www.scs.osu.edu/People/holloman.html

Dr. Kongpop U-yen holds a Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering and is an independent Space-Weather researcher who works in an agency involved in space program related research. Dr. U-yen has expertise in microwave, superconductivity, planetary science, and more. He is also an enthusiast of the new electric universe theories, and has been involved in the exploration of Space-Weather-Induced natural disasters. Disclaimer: Dr. U-yen’s agency has no role in this project, has made no comment, and has given no endorsement to this project or the purported results. http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kongpop_U-yen

KAHB LLC is an independent research organization dedicated to studying space-weather, the earth-sun connection, climate change, and more. The organization is based in Columbus, Ohio, but members span the world over, and the organization leans on the contributions of more than 180,000 members who share insights, research, literature reviews, and hypotheses for the betterment of the group. The organization was founded in 2013 by Ben and Katherine Davidson.
www.Suspicious0bservers.org – www.ObservatoryProject.com
Please submit any questions, comments, or requests for interviews to Ben@ObservatoryProject.com

Davidson’s Bio: http://www.suspicious0bservers.org/about-faq/

This article can be downloaded or printed from https://docs.google.com/a/suspicious0bservers.org/document/d/13m-9vVVnwFOvSO1g9X4239hlJrRuemdBzBVBSQo8lAc/edit

There are no restrictions on the use of this release. Sharing and re-publication in whole or in part, including for monetary gain, is encouraged. Credit for the image should be given to Xaviar Thunders of KAHB, and to the International Space Station for the background image of earth.






















LINKS: STARWATER – Chapter 1

A No-Budget Film by the Suspicious0bservers

Animations by Xaviar Thunders

With help from Mr2tuff & Star0bservers

LINKS:

Mars: A water-rich planet?: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0019103586900199

Mars polar caps: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars#Polar_caps

Surface Feature on Mars: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap000626.html

Mars Atmosphere: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Mars

Awesome Mars Image: www.nasa.gov/images/content/190012main_09202007_1-hires.jpg

Venus: http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-1-4614-5064-1_3#page-1

Venus Atmosphere: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Venus

Water in Mercury’s Atmosphere: http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2008/1536.html

Ions in the atmosphere: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2010JE003714/abstract

Water near Mercury’s North Pole: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/339/6117/292.short

“A Wet and Volatile Mercury”: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/339/6117/282.summary

Evidence for Surface Volatiles on Mercury: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/339/6117/296.abstract

Ice on Io: http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/1993/93-107.txt

Water in Jupiter’s Atmosphere: http://abyss.uoregon.edu/~js/ast121/lectures/lec19.html

A Great Jupiter-water Read: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~atreya/Chapters/2005_JovianCloud_Multiprobes.pdf

Saturn Ring Rain: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v496/n7444/full/nature12049.html

Saturn Atmosphere: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Saturn#Atmosphere

Titan Surface Feature: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Cassini_spots_mini_Nile_River_on_Saturn_moon

CASSIE 3D – NASA’s Saturn App: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/CASSIE/cassini.html ***Top Recommendation

Enceladus Water Vents: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Enceladus_Cold_Geyser_Model.svg

Enceladus photo: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpegMod/PIA11688_modest.jpg

Wet Early Moon: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2013/pdf/1830.pdf

LCROSS Water on Moon: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LCROSS/main/prelim_water_results.html

Solar Wind a Source of Lunar Water: http://ur.umich.edu/1213/Oct22_12/4006-solar-wind-particles

Moon and Earth have Common Water Source: http://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2013/05/moonwater

NASA’s I See Ice: http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/review/i-see-ice/#/review/i-see-ice/game.html











A No-Budget Film by the Suspicious0bservers

Animations by Xaviar Thunders

With help from Mr2tuff & Star0bservers – Music by Nemesis (click SHOP above)

LINKS:

Snow Falling on early Solar System: http://www.nrao.edu/pr/2013/snowline/#caption_2 & http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1333/

Water in Super-Earth Atmosphere: http://www.subarutelescope.org/Pressrelease/2013/09/03/index.html

Water in Pre-Planetary Nebulae: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8645286

Mark Claussen, Raghvendra Sahai, Mark Morris and Hannah Rogers (2012). Water Fountains in Pre-Planetary Nebulae: The Case of IRAS16342–3814. Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, 8, pp 225-229. doi:10.1017/S1743921312007004.

Water at Solar System Birth: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/spitzer/news/spitzer-20070829.html

Stars Born of Icy Gas and Dust: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_966.html

Water in Star Ring: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/herschel/multimedia/pia14870graph.html

Water around Carbon Star: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/herschel/hershelCWLeonis20100901.html

Water IN Brown Dwarfs: http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/UCLA-Astronomers-Obtain-Molecular-4487.aspx & http://arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/0306631.pdf

Star Shooting Water Bullets: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/06/110613-space-science-star-water-bullets-kristensen/

Wet Exo-Jupiter: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/07/070711-water-jupiter.html

Stellar Hail: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/08/070829-star-water.html

Cold Stars: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/110323-coldest-star-discovered-cup-coffee-brown-dwarf-hawaii-space-science/?rptregcta=reg_free_np&rptregcampaign=20130916_rw_membership_r1p_w#finished

Water in Late Type Stars: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19840026277_1984026277.pdf

Water around Dying Star: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2001/ast11jul_1/

Water in Sunspots: http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/2007/locations/ttt_atob.php

Oxygenation of Earth: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v501/n7468/full/nature12426.html

“Black Hole” munches on hot gas: http://spaceinimages.esa.int/Images/2013/05/Molecules_on_the_menu_at_the_Milky_Way_s_black_hole

Radio-wavelength image: National Radio Astronomy Observatory/Very Large Array (courtesy of C. Lang); spectrum: ESA/Herschel/PACS & SPIRE/J.R. Goicoechea et al. (2013).








LINKS: STARWATER Chapter 3

Black Hole Jets Heavy Elements: http://www.astronomy.com/news/2013/11/black-hole-jets-pack-a-powerful-punch
Milky Way GC has Jets: http://xxx.lanl.gov/pdf/1310.0146v1.pdf
NASA Solar Magnetic Fields Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34gNgaME86Y
Free-floating planets more common than stars: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/18may_orphanplanets/
Rogue planets eclipses star video from NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/planet20110518-video.html
Mass and Motion of globulettes in the Rosette Nebula: http://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2013/07/aa21547-13/aa21547-13.html
Free-floating planets born free: http://www.chalmers.se/en/news/Pages/Free-floating-planets-may-be-born-free.aspx
Stars capture rogue planets: http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/2012-12
Harvard-Smithsonian “We are Not alone”: http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/2013-27










LINKS: STARWATER Chapter 4

…and more. I’m going to put our entire links/noted document on here. Star0bserver, David Hyde, and Billy Yelverton were instrumental in producing this research.

It’s a bit oif a data-dump, but it’s all relevant.

The Moons of Saturn

Titan:

NASA says: In many respects, Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, is one of the most Earth-like worlds we have found to date. With its thick atmosphere and organic-rich chemistry, Titan resembles a frozen version of Earth, several billion years ago, before life began pumping oxygen into our atmosphere.

Titan Moon Resources:
Cook, Jia-Rui; Brown, Dwayne. ‘Cassini Finds Likely Subsurface Ocean on Saturn Moon.’ NASA. Cassini: Unlocking Saturn’s Secrets. 28 June 2012. Website: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/whycassini/cassini20120628.html

NASA. ‘Cassini Gets New Views of Titan’s Land of Lakes.’ Jet Propulsion Laboratory: Latest News. 23 October 2013. Website: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-304

NASA. ‘About Saturn & Its Moons.’ Jet Propulsion Laboratory: Cassini Solstice Mission. Website: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/science/index.cfm?SciencePageID=73

Phillips, Dr. Tony. ‘Mystery of the Missing Waves on Titan.’ NASA Science News. 22 July 2013.
Website: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/22jul_titan/

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_(moon)

Mimas:
The low density of Mimas, 1.15 g/cm³, indicates that it is composed mostly of water ice with only a small amount of rock. Mimas’s density and appearance suggest that it is a sphere of water ice with small pieces of rock mixed into the surface.

Mimas Moon Resources:
NASA. ‘About Saturn & Its Moons: Moons-Mimas.’ Cassini Solstice Mission. Website: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/science/moons/mimas/
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimas_(moon)

Enceladus:
Enceladus seems to have liquid water under its icy surface. Cryovolcanoes at the south pole shoot large jets of water vapor, other volatiles and some solid particles (ice crystal, NaCl etc) into space (total approximately 200 kg per second). Some of this water falls back onto the moon as “snow”, some of it adds to Saturn’s rings, and some of it reaches Saturn. The whole of Saturn’s E Ring is believed to have been made from these ice particles. Because of the apparent water at or near the surface, Enceladus may be one of the best places for humans to look for extraterrestrial life.

In 2005 the Cassini spacecraft performed several close flybys of Enceladus, revealing the moon’s surface and environment in greater detail. In particular, the probe discovered a water-rich plume venting from the moon’s south polar region. This discovery, along with the presence of escaping internal heat and very few (if any) impact craters in the south polar region, shows that Enceladus is geologically active today. Moons in the extensive satellite systems of gas giants often become trapped in orbital resonances that lead to forced libration or orbital eccentricity; proximity to Saturn can then lead to tidal heating of Enceladus’s interior, offering a possible explanation for the activity.

Enceladus is one of only three outer Solar System bodies, with Jupiter’s moon Io’s sulfur volcanoes and Neptune’s moon Triton’s nitrogen “geysers” where active eruptions have been observed. Analysis of the outgassing suggests that it originates from a body of subsurface liquid water, which along with the unique chemistry found in the plume, has fueled speculations that Enceladus may be important in the study of astrobiology.[16] The discovery of the plume has added further weight to the argument that material released from Enceladus is the source of the E ring.

“New data from NASA’s Cassini proves that the intensity of the jets of water ice and organic particles that shoot out from Saturn’s moon Enceladus depends on its proximity to the ringed planet, offering further evidence that some kind of body of water is trapped beneath its surface…

“The way the jets react so responsively to changing stresses on Enceladus suggests they have their origins in a large body of liquid water,” said Christophe Sotin, a co-author and Cassini team member at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. “Liquid water was key to the development of life on Earth, so these discoveries whet the appetite to know whether life exists everywhere water is present…”

Enceladus Moon Resources:

Based on NASA/JPL report. ‘Atmosphere on Enceladus.’ Astrobiology Magazine. Posted 18 March 2005. Website: (Original NASA/JPL Report: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/)
Article Source: http://www.astrobio.net/pressrelease/1490/atmosphere-on-enceladus

Black, Richard. ‘Saturn’s tiny moon Enceladus may be the best place to look for life elsewhere in the Solar System.’ BBC News. 10 April 2006. Website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4895358.stm

Kemsley, Tamarra. ‘New Evidence Saturn’s Moon Enceladus Boasts Large Body of Water Uncovered.’ Nature World News. 02 August 2013. Website: http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/3280/20130802/new-evidence-saturns-moon-enceladus-boasts-large-body-water-uncovered.htm

Lovett, Richard A. ‘Enceladus named sweetest spot for alien life.’ Nature, Published online 31 May 2011. doi:10.1038/news.2011.337 Website:

http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110531/full/news.2011.337.html

NASA. ‘Cassini Finds an Atmosphere on Saturn’s Moon Enceladus.’ Cassini Solstice Mission. 16 March 2005. Website: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/newsreleases/newsrelease20050316/

NASA. ‘NASA’s Cassini Spacecraft Reveals Forces Controlling Saturn Moon Jets.’ Jet Propulsion Laboratory: Cassini Solstice Mission. 31 July 2013. Website:

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/newsreleases/newsrelease20130731/

Spotts, Pete. ‘What’s going on inside Saturn Moon? Geysers offer intriguing new clue.’ Christian Science Monitor. 31 July 2013. Website:

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2013/0731/What-s-going-on-inside-Saturn-moon-Geysers-offer-intriguing-new-clue

The Telegraph. ‘Salt water caverns may be beneath surface of Saturn moon.’ 24 June 2009.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/5625932/Salt-water-caverns-may-be-beneath-surface-of-Saturn-moon.html

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enceladus

Tethys:

Tethys has a low density of 0.98 g/cm³ indicating that it is made up of water ice with just a small fraction of rock according to BBC. (NASA: Tethys’ density is 0.97 times that of liquid water, which suggests that Tethys is composed almost entirely of water ice plus a small amount of rock.) This is confirmed by the spectroscopy of its surface, which identified water ice as the dominant surface material.
The high albedo indicates that the surface of Tethys is composed of almost pure water ice with only a small amount of a dark material. No compound other than crystalline water ice has been unambiguously identified on Tethys. (Possible constituents include organics, ammonia and carbon dioxide.)

The extremely water-ice-rich composition of Tethys remains unexplained. The conditions in the Saturnian sub-nebula likely favored conversion of the molecular nitrogen and carbon monoxide into ammonia and methane, respectively. This can partially explain why Saturnian moons including Tethys contain more water ice than outer Solar System bodies like Pluto or Triton as the oxygen freed from carbon monoxide would react with the hydrogen forming water. One of the most interesting explanations proposed is that the rings and inner moons accreted from the tidally stripped ice-rich crust of a Titan-like moon before it was swallowed by Saturn.

Tethys Moon Resources:

BBC. ‘Tethys.’ Solar System: Moons. Website:http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/solarsystem/moons/tethys_(moon)

NASA. ‘Tethys: Overview.’ Solar System Exploration. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Website: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Tethys

Ostro, Steven J., West, Richard D, multiple authors. ‘Cassini RADAR observations of Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Iapetus, Hyperion, and Phoebe.’ Science Direct. 27 April 2006. Website: http://trs-new.jpl.nasa.gov/dspace/bitstream/2014/40235/1/05-3668.pdf

Schenk, Paul; Hamilton, Doublas P; multiple authors. ‘Plasma, plumes and rings: Saturn system dynamics as recorded in global color patterns on its midsize icy satellites.’ The Smithsonian/NASA Astrophysics Data System. Icarus, Volume 211, Issue 1, p. 740-757. Website: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011Icar..211..740S

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tethys_(moon)

Dione:
It is composed primarily of water ice, but is the third densest of Saturn’s moons (after Enceladus and Titan, the density of which is increased by gravitational compression) it must have a considerable fraction (~ 46%) of denser material like silicate rock in its interior. suggesting stronger chances for internal heating

During a close pass of Cassini through the plasma wake of Saturn’s moon Dione on April 7, 2010 the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) detected molecular oxygen ions (O2+) on pickup ring velocity distributions, thus providing the first in situ detection of a neutral exosphere surrounding the icy moon.

The density of O2+ determined from the CAPS data ranges from 0.01 to 0.09 /cm3 and is used to estimate the exosphere O2 radial column density, obtaining the range 0.9 to 7 x 1011/cm2 . CAPS was unable to directly detect pick up H2O+ from the exosphere due to high background levels, but the observations can be used to set an upper limit to their density of ~10 times the O2+ density.

Dione Moon Resources:

‘Geophysical Research Letters.’ American Geophysical Union. ©2014 doi:10.1029/2011GL050452 Website: http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/pip/2011GL050452.shtml#content

Ghosh, Pallab. ‘Oxygen envelopes Saturn’s icy moon.’ BBC News: Science & Environment. 2 March 2012. Website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17225127

Lewis, Tanya. ‘Saturn’s Icy Moon Dione May Hide Watery Secret.’ Space.com 10 June 2013.
Website: http://www.space.com/21482-saturn-moon-dione-subsurface-ocean.html

NASA. ‘Cassina Finds Hints of Activity at Saturn Moon Dione.’ Jet Propulsion Laboratory: California Institute of Technology. 29 May 2013. Website:

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-178

Sven, Simon. ‘Magnetic Signatures of a Tenuous Atmosphere at Dione.’ Website:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2011GL048454/abstract

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dione_(moon)

Rhea:

Rhea is an icy body with a density of about 1.236 g/cm3. This low density indicates that it is made of ~25% rock and ~75% water ice. Models suggest that Rhea could be capable of sustaining an internal liquid water ocean through heating by radioactive decay.

On November 27, 2010, NASA announced the discovery of a tenuous atmosphere—exosphere. It consists of oxygen and carbon dioxide in proportion of roughly 5 to 2. The main source of oxygen is radiolysis of water ice at the surface by ions supplied by the magnetosphere of Saturn.

Rhea Moon Resources:

Kerr, Richard A. ‘The Moon Rings That Never Were.’ Science Magazine: AAAS. 25 June 2010. Website: http://news.sciencemag.org/2010/06/moon-rings-never-were

NASA. ‘Moons-Rhea.’ About Saturn & Its Moons. Jet Propulsion Laboratory: California Institute of Technology. Website: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/science/moons/rhea/

NASA. ‘Thin Air – Cassini Finds Ethereal Atmosphere at Rhea.’ Cassini: Unlocking Saturn’s Secrets. 26 November 2010. Website:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/whycassini/cassini20101126.html

Space.com ‘Saturn Moon Rhea’s Surprise: Oxygen-Rich Atmosphere.’ 25 November 2010. Website: http://www.space.com/9599-saturn-moon-rhea-surprise-oxygen-rich-atmosphere.html

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhea_(moon)

The Moons of Jupiter

Europa:
Europa’s bulk density suggests that it is similar in composition to the terrestrial planets, being primarily composed of silicate rock.

It is believed that Europa has an outer layer of water around 100 km (62 mi) thick; some as a frozen-ice upper crust and some as liquid ocean underneath the ice. Recent magnetic field data from the Galileo orbiter showed that Europa has an induced magnetic field through interaction with Jupiter’s, which suggests the presence of a subsurface conductive layer. The layer is likely a salty liquid water ocean. The crust is estimated to have undergone a shift of 80°, nearly flipping over, which would be unlikely if the ice were solidly attached to the mantle. Europa probably contains a metallic iron core.

Europa likely has eruptions of warm ice as the Europan crust spread open to expose warmer layers beneath. The effect would have been similar to that seen in Earth’s oceanic ridges.

In November 2011, a team of researchers from the University of Texas at Austin and elsewhere presented evidence in the journal Nature suggesting that many “chaos terrain” features on Europa sit atop vast lakes of liquid water. These lakes would be entirely encased in Europa’s icy outer shell and distinct from a liquid ocean thought to exist farther down beneath the ice shell. Europa has a layer of a highly electrically conductive material in Europa’s interior. The most plausible candidate for this role is a large subsurface ocean of liquid saltwater.

Europa may have periodically occurring plumes of water 200 km high, or more than 20 times the height of Mt. Everest. These plumes appear when Europa is at its farthest point from Jupiter, and are not seen when Europa is at its closest point to Jupiter, in agreement with tidal force modeling predictions.

Observations with the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph revealed that Europa has a tenuous atmosphere composed mostly of molecular oxygen (O2). The surface pressure of Europa’s atmosphere is 0.1 µPa, or 10-12 times that of the Earth. In 1997, the Galileo spacecraft confirmed the presence of a tenuous ionosphere (an upper-atmospheric layer of charged particles) around Europa created by solar radiation and energetic particles from Jupiter’s magnetosphere, providing evidence of an atmosphere.

Unlike the oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere, Europa’s is not of biological origin. The surface-bounded atmosphere forms through radiolysis, the dissociation of molecules through radiation. Solar ultraviolet radiation and charged particles (ions and electrons) from the Jovian magnetospheric environment collide with Europa’s icy surface, splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen constituents. These chemical components are then adsorbed and “sputtered” into the atmosphere. The same radiation also creates collisional ejections of these products from the surface, and the balance of these two processes forms an atmosphere. Earth’s original oxygen was not organic either.

Europa has emerged as one of the top locations in the Solar System in terms of potential habitability and the possibility of hosting extraterrestrial life. Life could exist in its under-ice ocean, perhaps subsisting in an environment similar to Earth’s deep-ocean hydrothermal vents. Life in such an ocean could possibly be similar to microbial life on Earth in the deep ocean.

Europa Moon Resources:

‘Europa’s Crust and Ocean: Origin, Composition, and the Prospects for Life.’ Ideal Library: Icarus 148, 226-265 (2000). Website: http://www.planetary.brown.edu/pdfs/2440.pdf

‘Hubble discovers water vapour venting from Jupiter’s moon Europa.’ Hubble: Science Release. 12 December 2013. Website: http://www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1322/

‘Hubble Finds Oxygen Atmosphere on Jupiter’s Moon, Europa.’ HubbleSite. News Release Number: STSci-1995-12. 23 February 1995. Website:

http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/1995/12/text/

Jackson School of Geosciences. ‘Scientists Find Evidence for ‘Great Lake’ on Europa and Potential New Habitat for Life.’ The University of Texas at Austin. 16 November 2011. Website:

http://www.jsg.utexas.edu/news/2011/11/scientists-find-evidence-for-great-lake-on-europa/

NASA. ‘Clay-Like Minerals Found on Icy Crust of Europa.’ Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 11 December 2013. Website: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-362

‘Possibility of Life on Europa.’ Website:

http://web.archive.org/web/20070217120400/http://people.msoe.edu/~tritt/sf/europa.life.html

Smyth, W. H. & Marconia, M. L. ‘Processes Shaping Galilean Satellite Atmospheres from the Surface to the Magnetosphere.’ Ices, Oceans, and Fire: Satellites of the Outer Solar System (2007). Website: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/icysat2007/pdf/6039.pdf

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_(moon) 2nd Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_Jupiter_System_Mission_%E2%80%93_Laplace

Io:
Io is primarily composed of silicate rock surrounding a molten iron or iron sulfide core. Most of Io’s surface is composed of extensive plains coated with sulfur and sulfur dioxide frost.

Scientists have found water molecules frozen in the surface ices of Jupiter’s moon Io. The absorption lines for water were found in the infrared spectrum of Io by scientists onboard NASA’s Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO).

Io is the only body in the solar system, except Earth, known to have intense volcanic activity. The Voyager spacecraft discovered active volcanoes on Io more than a decade ago.

Io Moon Resources:

‘Hubble discovers water vapour venting from Jupiter’s moon Europa.’ Hubble ESA: Science Release. 12 December 2013. Website: http://www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1322/

Spencer, John R.; Lellouch, Emmanuel. ‘Mid-infrared detection of large longitudinal asymmetries in Io’s SO2 atmosphere.’ The Smithsonian/NASA Astrophysics Data System. Icarus, Volume 176, Issue 2, p. 283-304. Website: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005Icar..176..283S

Strom, R. G.; Terrile, R. J.; Hansen, C.; Masursky, H. ‘Volcanic eruption plumes on Io.’ The Smithsonian/NASA Astrophysics Data System. Nature, vol. 280, p.733-736. 30 August 1979. Website: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1979Natur.280..733S

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Io_(moon)

Ganymede:
Ganymede is composed of approximately equal amounts of silicate rock and water ice. It is a fully differentiated body with an iron-rich, liquid core. A saltwater ocean is believed to exist nearly 200 km below Ganymede’s surface, sandwiched between layers of ice.

Water ice seems to be ubiquitous on the surface, with a mass fraction of 50–90%, significantly more than in Ganymede as a whole.The analysis of high-resolution, near-infrared and UV spectra obtained by the Galileo spacecraft and from the ground has revealed various non-water materials: carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and, possibly, cyanogen, hydrogen sulfate and various organic compounds.[5][35] Galileo results have also shown magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) and, possibly, sodium sulfate (Na2SO4) on Ganymede’s surface. These salts may originate from the subsurface ocean.

Evidence for a tenuous oxygen atmosphere (exosphere) on Ganymede, very similar to the one found on Europa, was found by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in 1995. HST actually observed airglow of atomic oxygen in the far-ultraviolet at the wavelengths 130.4 nm and 135.6 nm. Such an airglow is excited when molecular oxygen is dissociated by electron impacts, evidence of a significant neutral atmosphere composed predominantly of O2molecules.

Additional evidence of the oxygen atmosphere comes from spectral detection of gases trapped in the ice at the surface of Ganymede. The detection of ozone (O3) bands was announced in 1996. In 1997 spectroscopic analysis revealed the dimer (or diatomic) absorption features of molecular oxygen. Such an absorption can arise only if the oxygen is in a dense phase.

Ganymede Moon Resources:

Barr, Amy C.; Pappalardo, Robert T. ‘Rise of Deep Melt Into Ganymede’s Ocean and Implications for Astrobiology.’ Lunar and Planetary Science XXXII (2001). Website: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2001/pdf/1781.pdf

Bland, M. T.; Showman, A.P. ‘Ganymede’s Orbital and Thermal Evolution and Its Effect on Magnetic Field Generation.’ Lunar and Planetary Science XXXVIII (2007). Website:

http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2007/pdf/2020.pdf

Carlson, R.W. ‘Atmosphere on Ganymede from Its Occultation of SAO 186800 on 7 June 1972.’ Science. 5 October 1973. Website: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17829812

Hauck, II; Dombard, Andrew J. ‘Internal Structure and Mechanisms of Core Convection on Ganymede.’ Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIII (2002). Website:

http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2002/pdf/1380.pdf

‘Hydrated Salt Minerals on Ganymede’s Surface: Evidence of an Ocean Below.’ Science AAAS. 25 May 2001. Website: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/292/5521/1523

Volwerk, M. ‘Probing Ganymede’s magnetosphere with field line resonances.’ Journal of Geophysical Research Vol. 104 NO. A7. UCLA Institute of Geophysics & Planetary Physics. 1 July 1009. Website: http://www.igpp.ucla.edu/people/mkivelson/Publications/1999JA900161.pdf

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganymede_(moon)

Callisto:
Callisto’s exact amount of surface water ice is unknown, along with the existence of a liquid ocean, but it is likely the primary surface coverage material.

Callisto has a very tenuous atmosphere composed of carbon dioxide. Because such a thin atmosphere would be lost in only about 4 days (see atmospheric escape), it must be constantly replenished, possibly by slow sublimation of carbon dioxide ice from Callisto’s icy crust, which would be compatible with the sublimation–degradation hypothesis for the formation of the surface knobs.

Callisto’s high electron density cannot be explained by the photoionization of the atmospheric carbon dioxide alone. Hence, it is suspected that the atmosphere of Callisto is actually dominated by molecular oxygen (in amounts 10–100 times greater than CO2).

As with Europa and Ganymede, the idea has been raised that extraterrestrial microbial life may exist in a salty ocean under the Callistoan surface. However, the conditions for life appear to be less favorable on Callisto than on Europa. The principal reasons are the lack of contact with rocky material and the lower heat flux from the interior of Callisto.

Callisto Moon Resources:

Hibbitts, C.A. ‘Distributions of CO2 and SO2 on the Surface of Callisto.’ Lunar and Planetary Science XXXI (2000). Website: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2000/pdf/1908.pdf

Khurana, K. K.; Kivelson, M.G. ‘Induced magnetic fields as evidence for subsurface oceans in Europa and Callisto.’ Letters to Nature Vol. 395 22 October 1998. Website:

http://www.igpp.ucla.edu/people/mkivelson/Publications/N395777.pdf

Klemaszekski, J.E. ‘Geological Evidence for an Ocean on Callisto.’ Lunar and Planetary Science XXXII (2001). Website: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2001/pdf/1818.pdf

McGuire, Melissa L. ‘High Power MPD Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NEP) for Artificially Gravity HOPE Missions to Callisto.’ NASA/TM-2003-212349 (Technical Memo). Website:

http://trajectory.grc.nasa.gov/aboutus/papers/STAIF-2003-177.pdf

McKinnon, William B. ‘On convection in ice I shells of outer Solar System bodies, with detailed application to Callisto.’ The Smithsonian/NASA Astrophysics Data System. Icarus, Volume 183, Issue 2 p. 435-450 (2006). Website: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006Icar..183..435M

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callisto_(moon)

Pluto
In 2015, the Pluto system is due to be visited by spacecraft for the first time. The New Horizons probe will perform a flyby during which it will attempt to take detailed measurements and images of the plutoid and its moons.

Observations by the Hubble Space Telescope place Pluto’s density at between 1.8 and 2.1 g/cm3, suggesting its internal composition consists of roughly 50–70 percent rock and 30–50 percent ice by mass. Subsurface ocean possible.

Pluto’s atmosphere consists of a thin envelope of nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide gases.

Pluto has five known moons: Charon (the largest, with a diameter just over half that of Pluto), Nix, Hydra, Kerberos, and Styx. In 2007, observations by the Gemini Observatory of patches of ammonia hydrates and water crystals on the surface of Charon suggested the presence of active cryo-geysers.

Pluto Resources:

Lovett, Richard. A. ‘Pluto Has Oceans Under Ice?’ National Geographic: Daily News. 16 December 2010. Website: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/12/101216-pluto-ocean-solar-system-science-space/

Redd, Nola Taylor. ‘NASA Probe to Search for Pluto’s Hidden Ocean.’ Space.com. 21, November 2011. Website: http://www.space.com/13703-pluto-horizons-subsurface-ocean.html

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto

Mercury
David Paige and his colleagues provided the first detailed models of the surface and near-surface temperatures of Mercury’s north polar regions that utilize the actual topography of Mercury’s surface measured by the MLA. The measurements “show that the spatial distribution of regions of high radar backscatter is well matched by the predicted distribution of thermally stable water ice,” he writes.

The discovery of huge amounts of water ice and possible organic compounds on the heat-blasted planet Mercury suggests that the raw materials necessary for life as we know it may be common throughout the solar system, researchers say.

Mercury likely harbors between 100 billion and 1 trillion metric tons of water ice in permanently shadowed areas near its poles, scientists analyzing data from NASA’s Messenger spacecraft announced Thursday (Nov. 29).

Life on sun-scorched Mercury remains an extreme longshot, the researchers stressed, but the new results should still put a spring in the step of astrobiologists around the world.

Mercury Resources:
‘MESSENGER Finds New Evidence for Water Ice at Mercury’s Poles.’ MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging. 29 November 2012 – Mission News. Website:

http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=233

NASA. ‘Messenger Finds New Evidence for Water at Mercury’s Poles.’ Messenger Mission to Mercury. 29 November 2012. Website:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/messenger/media/PressConf20121129.html#.Us8kTJ5dWJg

Tate, Karl. ‘Water Ice on Mercury: How It Stays Frozen (Infographic).’ Space.com. 29 November 2012. Website: http://www.space.com/18695-water-ice-mercury-explained-infographic.html

Wall, Mike. ‘Mercury’s Water Ice Bodes Well for Alien Life Search.’ Space.com. 30 November 2012. Website: http://www.space.com/18699-mercury-water-ice-alien-life.html

Starting Fire With Water

NASA-January 10, 2014:
Water becomes supercritical when it compressed to a pressure of 217 atmospheres and heated above 373 degrees C. Above that so-called critical point, ordinary H2O transforms into something that is neither solid, liquid, nor gas. It’s more of a “liquid-like gas.”

“When supercritical water is mixed with organic material, a chemical reaction takes place—oxidation.” Says Hicks. “It’s a form of burning without flames.”

Phillips, Dr. Tony. ‘Starting Fire With Water.’ NASA Science News – 10 January 2014. Website:

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/10jan_firewater/

‘Science Casts: Starting Fire in Water.’ NASA: ScienceAtNASA YouTube Channel. Published on 3 January 2014. Website: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TysrIYJOlpk

‘Unexpected Stable Stoichiometries of Sodium Chlorides’

Simple table salt, NaCl, is the only known stable phase of Na and Cl at ambient conditions. Previous attempts to understand its structure and chemical properties under pressure and at high temperatures revealed phase and bonding transitions, while keeping the balance of one Na to one Cl.

These experiments establish that compounds violating chemical intuition can be thermodynamically stable even in simple systems at nonambient conditions.

Resources:

‘Salty surprise: Ordinary table salt turns into ‘forbidden’ forms.’ PHYS.org – 19 December 2013. Website: http://phys.org/news/2013-12-salty-ordinary-table-salt-forbidden.html

Sci-News.com. ‘“Impossible” Sodium Chlorides Challenge Foundation of Chemistry.’ 20 December 2013. Website: http://www.sci-news.com/othersciences/chemistry/science-sodium-chlorides-foundation-chemistry-01633.html

Stony Brook Newsroom. ‘SBU Team Discovers New Compounds That Challenge the Foundation of Chemistry.’ Stony Brook University. 19 December 2013. Website: http://sb.cc.stonybrook.edu/news/general/Rocksalt.php

Zhang, Weiwei. ‘Unexpected Stabel Stoichiometries of Sodium Chlorides.’ Science AAAS: December 2013. Vol. 342 no. 6165 pp. 1502-1505. DOI: 10.1126/science.1244989. Website:

https://www.sciencemag.org/content/342/6165/1502.short

Article Source: http://sb.cc.stonybrook.edu/news/general/Rocksalt.php#sthash.Tl12OqJU.dpuf

If you apply the rather modest pressure of 200,000 atmospheres—for comparison purposes, the pressure at the center of the earth is 3.6 million atmospheres—everything we know from chemistry textbooks falls apart.

Standard chemistry textbooks say that sodium and chlorine have very different electronegativities, and thus must form an ionic compound with a well-defined composition. Sodium’s charge is +1, chlorine’s charge is -1; sodium will give away an electron, chlorine wants to take an electron. According to chemistry texts and common sense, the only possible combination of these atoms in a compound is 1:1—rock salt, or NaCl.

“These compounds are thermodynamically stable and, once made, remain indefinitely; nothing will make them fall apart. Classical chemistry forbids their very existence. Classical chemistry also says atoms try to fulfill the octet rule—elements gain or lose electrons to attain an electron configuration of the nearest noble gas, with complete outer electron shells that make them very stable. Well, here that rule is not satisfied.”

Habitable planets within the galaxy Outline

1. Do habitable planets exist around other stars? Yes.

b. How do we detect planets around other stars?
The only technique to have succeeded in finding Jovian-mass companions to main-sequence stars involves measuring periodic variations in the radial velocity of the target star as seen from Earth.

Lunine, Jonathan I. ‘In search of planets and life around other stars.’ Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA. 11 May 1999. doi: 10.1073/pnas.96.10.5353. Website:

http://www.pnas.org/content/96/10/5353.full?sid=439ac1f5-f559-48b8-a95b-40fc71b9d04d

Petigura, Erik A. ‘Prevalence of Earth-size planets orbiting Sun-like Stars.’ PNAS – Journal of the American Chemical Society. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1319909110. 22 October 2013. Website:

http://www.pnas.org/content/110/48/19273.full?sid=439ac1f5-f559-48b8-a95b-40fc71b9d04d

c. How do we define a habitable zone?

Short Answer: A Habitable Zone (HZ) around a star is typically defined as the region where a rocky planet can maintain liquid water on its surface; this definition is NOT appropriate
Source:
Kasting, James F; Kipparapu, Ravikumar; Ramirez, Ramses M. ‘Remote life-detection criteria, habitable zone boundaries, and the frequency of Earth-like planets around M and late K stars.’ PNAS Astronomy – Special Feature. 31 October 2013. Website:

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/11/20/1309107110.full.pdf+html?sid=439ac1f5-f559-48b8-a95b-40fc71b9d04d

a. How common are they?
Scientists from University of California, Berkeley, and University of Hawaii, Manoa, have statistically determined that twenty percent of Sun-like stars in our galaxy have Earth-sized planets that could host life. The findings, gleaned from data collected from NASA’s Kepler spacecraft and the W. M. Keck Observatory. One in Five Stars Has Earth-sized Planet in Habitable Zone.

Observatory in Waimea, Hawaii. ‘One in Five Stars has Earth-sized Planet in Habitable Zone.’ W.M. Keck Observatory. 4 November 2013. Website:

http://www.keckobservatory.org/recent/entry/one_in_five_stars_has_earth_sized_planet_in_habitable_zone

‘Prevalence of Earth-size planets orbiting Sun-like stars’
A major question is whether planets suitable for biochemistry are common or rare in the universe. Small rocky planets with liquid water enjoy key ingredients for biology. We used the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Kepler telescope to survey 42,000 Sun-like stars for periodic dimmings that occur when a planet crosses in front of its host star. We found 603 planets, 10 of which are Earth size and orbit in the habitable zone, where conditions permit surface liquid water. We measured the detectability of these planets by injecting synthetic planet-caused dimmings into Kepler brightness measurements. We find that 22% of Sun-like stars harbor Earth-size planets orbiting in their habitable zones.

Source:
Petigura, Erik A. ‘Prevalence of Earth-size planets orbiting Sun-like Stars.’ PNAS – Journal of the American Chemical Society. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1319909110. 22 October 2013. Website:

http://www.pnas.org/content/110/48/19273.full?sid=439ac1f5-f559-48b8-a95b-40fc71b9d04d

‘One in Five Stars Has Earth-sized Planet in Habitable Zone’
Scientists from University of California, Berkeley, and University of Hawaii, Manoa, have statistically determined that twenty percent of Sun-like stars in our galaxy have Earth-sized planets that could host life. The findings, gleaned from data collected from NASA’s Kepler spacecraft and the W. M. Keck Observatory, now satisfy Kepler’s primary mission: to determine how many of the 100 billion stars in our galaxy have potentially habitable planets.
…20 Billion Stars are candidates.

Source:
Observatory in Waimea, Hawaii. ‘One in Five Stars has Earth-sized Planet in Habitable Zone.’ W.M. Keck Observatory. 4 November 2013. Website:

http://www.keckobservatory.org/recent/entry/one_in_five_stars_has_earth_sized_planet_in_habitable_zone

‘At Least One in Six Stars Has an Earth-sized Planet’
Jan. 10, 2013 – The quest to determine if planets like Earth are rare or common is taking another stride forward on the journey. Using NASA’s Kepler spacecraft, managed by NASA Ames Research Center, astronomers are beginning to find Earth-sized planets orbiting distant stars. A new analysis of Kepler data shows that about 17 percent of stars have an Earth-sized planet in an orbit closer than Mercury. Since the Milky Way has about 100 billion stars, there are at least 17 billion Earth-sized worlds out there.

Source:
NASA. ‘At Least One in Six Stars Has an Earth-sized Planet.’ 10 January 2013. Website:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/news/17-percent-of-stars-have-earth-size-planets.html

‘Confirmed: A Star System with Three Potentially Habitable Planets!’
Late last year, Canadian astronomer Philip Gregory made the controversial claim that there are three habitable zone super-Earths orbiting the red dwarf star Gliese 667C. Now, in a separate study, a group of European astronomers are saying he was right.

Source:
‘Confirmed: A Star System with Three Potentially Habitable Planets!’ io9.com on 25 June 2013.
Website: http://io9.com/confirmed-a-star-system-with-three-potentially-habitab-571616316

‘Earth-like Planets Are Right Next Door’
Cambridge, MA – Using publicly available data from NASA’s Kepler space telescope, astronomers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) have found that six percent of red dwarf stars have habitable, Earth-sized planets. Since red dwarfs are the most common stars in our galaxy, the closest Earth-like planet could be just 13 light-years away

Source:
‘Earth-like Planets Are Right Next Door.’ Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics – Release No.: 2013-05. 6 February 2013. Website: http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/2013-05

‘2013 Jan 7. 2,740 Kepler Planet Candidates, a Family Portrait Poster’
Kepler Mission Planet Candidates:
Download High Res version (13 Mb pdf) or Print version (30 Mb pdf).

Originally this is the front of a poster prepared for Transit of Venus 2012 June 6 event
Using the prolific planet hunting Kepler spacecraft, astronomers have discovered 2,740 planet candidates orbiting other suns since the Kepler mission’s search for Earth-like worlds began in 2009.
Source:
NASA. ‘Kepler’s Planet Candidates: 2,740 as of January 2013.’ Ames Research Center. 07 January 2013 pdf. Credit: Mission/Kepler, Rowe/Chris, Burke/Wendy Stenzel. Website: http://kepler.nasa.gov/multimedia/artwork/diagrams/?ImageID=216

‘First Planet Found Around Solar Twin Star Cluster’
Published on January 15th, 2014 on ESO.org:

“Astronomers have used ESO’s HARPS planet hunter in Chile, along with other telescopes around the world, to discover three planets orbiting stars in the cluster Messier 67. Although more than one thousand planets outside the Solar System are now confirmed, only a handful have been found in star clusters. Remarkably one of these new exoplanets is orbiting a star that is a rare solar twin — a star that is almost identical to the Sun in all respects.”

The first of these planets proved to be orbiting a remarkable star — it is one of the most similar solar twins identified so far and is almost identical to the Sun (eso1337) [5]. It is the first solar twin in a cluster that has been found to have a planet.

Two of the three planets are “hot Jupiters” — planets comparable to Jupiter in size, but much closer to their parent stars and hence much hotter. All three are closer to their host stars than the habitable zone where liquid water could exist.

“These new results show that planets in open star clusters are about as common as they are around isolated stars — but they are not easy to detect,” adds Luca Pasquini (ESO, Garching, Germany), co-author of the new paper [6]. “The new results are in contrast to earlier work that failed to find cluster planets, but agrees with some other more recent observations. We are continuing to observe this cluster to find how stars with and without planets differ in mass and chemical makeup.”

Source:
ESO. ‘First Planet Found Around Solar Twin in Star Cluster.’ European Southern Observatory. ESO – Science Release, 15 January 2014. Website: http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1402/


LAST MINUTE ADDITIONS

http://www.hawaii.edu/news/article.php?aId=6249

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2014/01/16/1320115111.abstract

http://www2.ess.ucla.edu/~jewitt/papers/2006/HJ06.pdf

http://arxiv.org/abs/1312.0673













Starwater Links: Chapter 5

Titan Article: http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/cassini/titan-nitrogen-20140623/#.U7BmAP3a7Hh
Diamond Star: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140623131333.htm
Below 0 STar: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2014-127
Ganymede: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2014-138
Ceres: http://www.helsinki.fi/acm2014/pdf-material/Day-1/Session-3/Room-4/KPPERS-127D.pdf
Chariklo: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v508/n7494/full/nature13155.html
Underground Water of Earth: http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2014/06/new-evidence-for-oceans-of-water-deep-in-the-earth.html