According to a recent study, scientists have discovered that Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, possesses the components needed to make it livable.
According to planetary scientist Frank Postberg of Freie Universität Berlin, “we have found that the ocean of Enceladus is rich in a variety of organic compounds.” The new study was published in the journal Nature on Wednesday.
But now, this new finding makes it evident that the frozen particles that the small moon’s plume shot into space contained significant concentrations of phosphorus salts. This vital component has never before been found in an ocean outside of Earth, he continued.
Enceladus is an icy moon that has long been investigated by researchers, who most recently examined frozen spray that was collected by NASA’s Cassini mission. According to NASA, scientists working under Postberg found phosphorous salt ice granules in Saturn’s E ring.
According to a NASA press release, phosphorus is “a key chemical element for many biological processes,” which suggests that the moon’s subterranean water contains a lot of the element.
The substance is a component of DNA, which is a genetic information carrier and a component of cell membranes, chromosomes, and ocean-dwelling plankton. Another essential component of the energy-conducting molecules found in all forms of life on Earth is phosphorus. Without it, life is not possible, according to NASA.
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Scientists have previously found that other elements, including as sodium, potassium, chlorine, and compounds incorporating carbonate, were present in the ice grains taken from the moon.
According to NASA, water from the deep ocean of Enceladus blasts out through the moon’s icy surface and forms a plume that feeds into Saturn’s outer E Ring. The Cassini mission, which ran from 2004 to 2017, repeatedly sailed by the plume and E-ring while gathering data that Postberg and his team eventually analysed.
No life has been found on the moon or anyplace else than Earth, according to co-researcher Christopher Glein, a planetary scientist and geochemist at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Despite this, researchers are eager to find components that could generate viable conditions.
“While the elements must be present, they might not be enough to support life in an extraterrestrial environment. It’s still unclear if life could have started in Enceladus’ ocean, Glein added.
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