Ice shell thickness reveals water temp on ocean worlds

Ithica NY (SPX) Mar 01, 2024

Decades before any probe dips a toe - and thermometer - into the waters of distant ocean worlds, Cornell astrobiologists have devised a novel way to determine ocean temperatures based on the thickness of their ice shells, effectively conducting oceanography from space. Available data showing ice thickness variation already allows a prediction for the upper ocean of Enceladus, a moon of Sat