Potential Building Blocks of Lifeโ Found in Plumes of Saturn‘s Moonโ Enceladus
PASADENA, CA – โค Scientists have detected a diverse array of organic molecules, including potential precursors to life, within plumes erupting from Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus. The findings,โค published today in Nature Astronomy, strengthen the case for a habitable ocean beneath the moon’s surface and offer tantalizing clues about the potential for life beyond Earth.
For years,researchers โฃhave analyzed data collectedโ by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft,which orbitedโฃ saturn from 2004 to 2017. The E-ring, aโค diffuse ring of ice particles surrounding Saturn, is โlargely sourced from the โคgeysers of Enceladus’ south polar region.analyzing โขthe composition of ice grains within thisโ ring proved challenging; ice bursts and clusters of water molecules often obscured signalsโค from organic compounds.However, researchers discovered that whenโ ice grains impacted the Cassini instrument โat high speeds, water โmolecules didn’t cluster, allowing for clearer detection.
The analysis revealed that some organic molecules previously found in the E-ring also exist in freshly ejected grains from Enceladus, confirming thierโค origin โin the moon’s โsubsurface โocean. Beyondโข these known compounds, the team identified new, previously undetected โฃparticles, including aliphatic compounds, (hetero) cyclical esters/alkenes, ether/ethyl, and perhaps nitrogen and oxygen-bearing compounds. On Earth, these types of molecules โare crucial intermediates in chemical reactions that lead to more complex molecules essential for life.
“This is a significant step forward โin our understanding of Enceladus’โ potential habitability,” said Nozair Khawaja, the โfirst author of the study from the University of Stuttgart and โthe Free University of Berlin.
The european Space Agency โค(ESA) is now considering a follow-up mission to Enceladus. This future probe would fly thru the geyser plumes and potentially even landโ near the moon’s South Pole to collect samples.
The Cassini-Huygens mission โwas a collaborative effort between NASA, ESA, and the Italian Space โAgency (ASI). Launched in 1997, the probe reached Saturn in 2004, completing โover 20 flybysโ of Enceladus before intentionally plunging โinto Saturn’s atmosphere in 2017 to prevent potential contamination of the moon.โ Data from Cassini continuesโ to be analyzed, yielding new โฃdiscoveries years after the mission’s end.