The icy moons at the outer reaches of our solar system are hiding a secret—and it could have important implications for life beyond our planet.
New research published in Nature Astronomy examines the surface features of the frigid moons of Saturn and Uranus, modeling the activity beneath their frozen shells. On Earth, tectonic forces are governed by molten rock. Moons like Enceladus, Mimas, and Iapetus (of Saturn) and Miranda and ****** ania (of Uranus), which get tugged at by the gravitational pull of their parent planet and neighboring moons, generate a heat from within as they squish and e