Year: 2015-2015
School: Istek Atanur Oguz Anatolia High School
Teacher: Tamer Çiftçi
Grade: 10
City: Be ikta - Istanbul
Target: Rings and Moons
"I chose target 1. It is about Saturn and its moons Tethys,Enceladus and Mimas. Firstly;Saturn the sixth planet from the Sun is best known for its ring. Saturn can be seen with naked eyes. Its surface temperature is -139 degrees. Also,Saturn's size is bigger than Earth.It is the fifth biggest object in the solar system and the second biggest planet. Saturn is considered to have its own system because of its moons and its big nature. It mostly made up of hydrogen. Jupiter and Saturn are considered to be similar because from atmospheric composition to rotation these two planets are extremely similar. Saturn has 150 moons and smaller moonlets. But only 53 of them are named. I think its moons will give the best scientific results.
The moon Enceladus has the best chance to contain living things even aliens.There are oceans beneath the ice which is amazing.It is believed that there are more water in those oceans than the Earth's oceans. In South Pole this water comes out with a geyser. This event provides interesting images. So it is definitely worth researching.
Mimas moon which looks like the death star because of its crater; is also believed to contain life form. Mimas causes the rings of Saturn to librate,to shake.It was seen that the amount of vibration was twice what was predicted. It was predicted that it would produce 3 km displacement instead it observed unexpected 6 km.This proves that Mimas also; could have oceans beneath its surface. Saturn's moons Enceladus and Titan are also believed to have oceans.The interesting thing about Mimas is that its surface doesn't have geologial activity to have oceans beneath it.It is stil unknown what is beneath Mimas' icy surface.It is a possibility that it might have oceans.Which is why I chose target 1; that the moons and Saturn have complete mysteries.
Saturn's all moons have different specialities on their own. Like Mimas,Tethys is also covered with ice.What is different with Tethys is not that its icy.Tethys has unusual red arcs which cannot be explained.It is unknown how it happened,how they got there.The red streaks are completely rare in the solar system.That's why Tethys is more unique than the other moons.There were some red craters spotted in Saturn's other moon Dione but they were small.These might be ice with chemical impurities which occured with the gas release from the moon.The arcs are estimated to be young,because it cuts across older impact craters.Still,we don't know its age.The red streaks might get erased,if they are thin and Tethy's surface might erase them.Icy moons like Tethys,Mimas,Enceladus are important because they could have microbial life if they have enough chemical energy and warmth underneath the ice.
Saturn has something different than the other planets'the ring'and so many moons and moonlets.Saturn system is unique and different in its own way with its mysteries,it is still yet to be discovered.That's why I chose this, I believe that it should be discovered what's beneath those moons and if they have microbial life,it can give the best scientific results."
