The Return of Summer / Alien Life in the Solar System (part 3)

For some reason summer has decided to visit us again in Sydney despite it being a month away from winter. This has been a nice excuse to wear some summery outfits and (if you saw my instagram yesterday) indulge in all-day-long-"no-pants"-days at the beach. On days like these, boater hats and lace shirts are a must. Although I was getting sick of the heat, I am going to embrace these last couple of days of pseduo-summer before it switches over into full-blown winter. dress - Paddy's Markets shirt - c/o Oasap necklace - c/o Merrin & Gussy socks - Cotton On hat -  c/o Wholesale shoes - c/o Chictopia So picture Saturn's 6th largest moon, Enceladus. It's not very large - it's about 7 times smaller in diameter than our own moon (in length, it would fit inside Great Britain). Enceladus is moon that is totally covered in ice, but if you look towards the South Pole you might see massive water spouts shooting out from underground. Some of this falls back down on you as snow, and some of it floats off to become part of Saturn's rings. Saturn hangs in the sky overhead. It's a pretty magical scene.  But are there any little alien critters on Enceladus that might also be gazing up at the sky in wonder? Image credit This moon is thought by some to be a better candidate for life than Europa, because the water exists near the surface rather than underneath a thick ice-crust. The moon also has an atmosphere, and last year it was discovered that the geysers (the water spouts) not only spew out water, but also organic compounds propane, ethane and acetylene. This is a great indication for possible alien life. Furthermore, the water in Enceladus' subsurface ocean is kept warm by what seems to be geothermal activity, much like on Earth with our deep-ocean vents (around which life a whole lot of strange life flourishes).  So could there be life on this tiny world? Well, it's about as friendly to life as Titan and Europa are. In fact, Enceladus would be even easier to gain information about than these two moons, because of its water spouts, meaning that a probe equipped to recognise complex organic molecules could merely fly through them and it wouldn't even have to land on the surface. I'm all for a mission to Saturn's moons, which does a fly-by of Enceladus before visiting Titan, as suggested by this Nature article. I hope you're all enjoying your weekends! Bloglovin' | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr