Item#: 9485
Level3
Containment Class:
esoteric
Secondary Class:
ticonderoga
Disruption Class:
amida
Risk Class:
notice
SCP-9485-4, known to the public as Tethys, a moon of Saturn.
Special Containment Procedures: The anomalous nature of SCP-9485 instances only becomes apparent on close inspection, which due to their being in outer space is impossible for civilian entities. A Foundation disinformation campaign is thus sufficient for containment.
Description: SCP-9485 are a group of unfertilized inert eggs with a radius of 150-600km, found in various locations in the outer Solar System and resembling ordinary celestial objects. A total of 6 instances are known to exist, all beyond the orbit of Jupiter. More are likely to exist elsewhere.
No instance of SCP-9485 shows signs of continuing embryonic development. The causes for this are thought to be diverse. The age of instances cannot be established beyond a rough lower limit of 800 million years. Instances are thought to have been introduced to the solar system simultaneously or within a relatively short timespan.
The structure of a typical SCP-9485 instance is as follows, starting from the surface and proceeding inwards:
- A superficial layer of rock, regolith or water ice, deposited onto the surface over geologic time. Acts as natural camouflage.
- A 10-30km thick layer of metallic iron intersperced with calcite.
- A 100-200km deep viscous subsurface ocean composed primarily of water.
- A solid or semisolid core, often heterogenous.
Discovery: Some instances of SCP-9485 have been known to civilian astronomers starting in the 17th century, although their anomalous nature remained unknown until 2005 when a secondary probe launched from unmanned Foundation spacecraft ODYSSEE-3 performed induced seismography on Rhea, one of the moons of Saturn, and received results consistent with an almost entirely liquid composition. Rhea was subsequently classified SCP-9485-1 after testing of other bodies led to similar findings.
ADDENDUM 9485-A: CATALOGUE
The following is a full list of known SCP-9485 instances.
#
Public name
Additional information
1
Rhea (Saturn V)
First recorded instance. The non-differentiated, homogenous structure of the core suggests this instance was never fertilized.
2
Oberon (Uranus IV)
Coincidentally discovered two months after SCP-9485-1 by the clandestinely launched ODYSSEE-2. The interior of the instance is frozen solid.
3
Mimas (Saturn I)
Smallest known instance. Contains no discernible core. The most likely explanation is that the impact which created the Herschel crater also scrambled the interior of SCP-9485-3.
4
Tethys (Saturn III)
A drilling rig located on the Odysseus crater was able to pierce the crust of SCP-9485-4 in 2018 and retrieve samples from the albumen. Subsequent samples found microbes inadvertedly introduced by the probe had contaminated the interior of SCP-9485-4 and begun consuming the nutrients within. As a result, an ever-expanding but likely temporary ecosystem has formed within SCP-9485-4.
5
████ (█████)
[REDACTED]
6
Not Applicable.
A trans-Neptunian object. Has yet to be observed by the public. A proposal by senior researcher J. Gilliéron to officially "discover" SCP-9485-6 is under review.
Not Applicable
Unconfirmed. A number of asteroids and fragments in the asteroid belt are anomalously high in calcite, suggesting the past presence of an SCP-9485 instance.