"Saturn's Moon Mimas: Uncovering the Hidden Ocean"

Researchers have proposed that Saturn's moon Mimas may have developed a vast buried ocean due to the planet's gravitational pull, causing the moon's icy shell to melt and thin. This discovery challenges previous assumptions about the potential for subsurface oceans on small moons and could impact the search for life in the solar system. The ocean is estimated to be relatively young, between 2 million and 25 million years old, and accounts for a significant portion of Mimas' volume. The process of tidal heating, driven by the moon's elliptical orbit, is believed to be responsible for the current thinning of the icy shell. This research sheds new light on the formation of subsurface seas and suggests that Mimas may be in a particularly interesting phase of its evolution.