CNN Indonesia
Monday, 24 Jul 2023 21:09 WIB
One of Saturn’s moons, Enceladus, has been detected with signs of ‘life’. (doc. NASA/JPL-CALTECH/SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE)
Jakarta, CNNIndonesia —
Tim researcher planetary science at the Freie University of Berlin, Germany, discovered chemical blocks that are the ‘seeds of life’ in Saturn’s natural satellites, Enceladus.
Scientists found detectable phosphorus in salty ice grains released into space by the eruption of plumes between cracks in Enceladus’ ice shell.
Enceladus’ thick, cold surface has oceans and clumps of material that regularly eject from geysers at the south pole. The material is then incorporated into Saturn’s outermost E ring.
The scientists used data from NASA’s Cassini mission, which studied Saturn and its moons between 2004 and 2017.
The spacecraft flies past the Enceladus blob and Saturn’s E ring time and time again, and the Cassini cosmic dust analyzer detects the minerals and organic compounds necessary for life.
Previously, researchers detected the presence of sodium, potassium, chlorine and carbonate compounds in ice grains collected and analyzed by Cassini.
Now, scientists can add phosphorus to the list of discoveries. The study detailing these findings was published in the journal Nature, Wednesday (14/6).
“Phosphorus in the form of phosphate is essential for all life on Earth,” said study lead author Frank Postberg, professor of planetary science at Freie Universität Berlin.
“Phosphate is essential for the manufacture of DNA and RNA, cell membranes, and ATP (the universal energy carrier in cells) for example. Life as we know it would not exist without phosphates,” he continued.
Researchers say this is the first time phosphorus has been found in oceans outside Earth.
“Previous geochemical models were divided over the question of whether Enceladus’ oceans contain significant amounts of phosphate or not,” Postberg said.
From the results of Cassini’s measurements it is evident that there are large amounts of this essential substance in seawater.
The data indicate high concentrations of sodium phosphate, or molecules that chemically bind sodium, oxygen, hydrogen and phosphorus, in the ice flakes.
The collective detection of phosphorus and other organic compounds in Enceladus’ oceans suggests these oceans could be habitable to life, if at all on the icy moon.
“By determining the high concentrations of phosphate available in Enceladus’ oceans, we have now met what is generally considered one of the most stringent requirements in determining whether celestial bodies are habitable,” said study co-author Fabian Klenner, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Washington.
Even though the ocean is under an ice shell, there are indications that a hydrothermal environment along the seafloor keeps the ocean at warmer temperatures.
“An important part of habitability is that we found phosphate that had dissolved in Enceladus’ oceans and, with it, was readily available for potential life formation,” Postberg was quoted as saying. CNN.
The researchers also conducted laboratory experiments to model Enceladus’ salty oceans, and they determined concentrations of phosphate were up to 100 times and possibly up to 1,000 times higher than in Earth’s oceans.
That’s because “soda seas,” or carbonate- and carbon-dioxide-rich oceans like those in Enceladus, can dissolve large amounts of phosphate and lock it in rocky minerals.
This new discovery of phosphorus in the subsurface oceans of Enceladus sheds light on the habitability potential of other icy ocean worlds throughout the solar system.
Although the building blocks for life and the conditions for habitability already exist on Enceladus, no visible signs of life have yet been detected.
(can/arh)
2023-07-24 14:09:29
#Seeds #Life #Saturns #Orbit
