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Saturn's ice moon Enceladus is spouting organic compounds which may be the building blocks for life

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Saturn’s ice moon Enceladus is spouting organic compounds which could be the building blocks for life

  • Plumes of ice erupt from Enceladus’ south poles due to hydrothermal activity
  • These ice grains end up orbiting Saturn, building up one of its outermost rings
  • A NASA spacecraft detected nitrogen and oxygen compounds amongst the ice
  • These can be used to make amino acids, which key to life as found on the Earth 

Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus is spouting organic compounds into space that were once dissolved in its ocean and could serve as the building blocks for life.

Nitrogen and oxygen compounds were detected by NASA‘s Cassini spacecraft in one of Saturn’s outer rings which is made of ice grains from Enceladus’ south pole.

On Earth, these molecules are the ingredients used to make amino acids, which are key to developing living organisms.

Ice grains erupt from plumes at the moon’s south pole thanks to its hydrothermal activity — which could potentially also fuel amino acid formation there too.

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Saturn's icy moon Enceladus, pictured, with Saturn on the horizon, is spouting organic compounds into space that were once dissolved in its ocean and could serve as the building blocks for life, a new study has found

Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus, pictured, with Saturn on the horizon, is spouting organic compounds into space that were once dissolved in its ocean and could serve as the building blocks for life, a new study has found

Geoscientist Nozair Khawaja of the Free University of Berlin and colleagues analysed data collected by the Cassini spacecraft on the ice grains that are emitted from Enceladus that have formed one of Saturn’s outermost rings.

While the Cassini mission concluded in the September of 2017 — with the craft burning up safely in the atmosphere of Saturn — scientists are still mining the wealth of information it gathered. 

The researchers used data collected by the spacecraft’s so-called ‘Cosmic Dust Analyzer’, which took mass spectrometer readings to determine the composition of organic materials that were found in the grains. 

Researchers believe that these compounds were dissolved in Enceladus’ ocean before they evaporated from the water’s surface and ended up condensing on ice grains within fractures in the icy moon’s surface.

From here, the grains were blasted into space by erupting plumes where they accumulated in Saturn’s so-called E-ring, which is around 186,000 (300,000 kilometres) wide and comprised of such tiny particles of water ice.

‘If the conditions are right, these molecules coming from the deep ocean of Enceladus could be on the same reaction pathway as we see here on Earth,’ said Dr Khawaja.

‘We don’t yet know if amino acids are needed for life beyond Earth, but finding the molecules that form amino acids is an important piece of the puzzle.’

Ice grains erupt from plumes at the moon's south pole thanks to its hydrothermal activity — which could potentially also fuel amino acid formation there too

Ice grains erupt from plumes at the moon’s south pole thanks to its hydrothermal activity — which could potentially also fuel amino acid formation there too

The organic compounds were detected by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, pictured in an artist's impression, in one of Saturn's rings which is made of ice grains from Enceladus' south pole

The organic compounds were detected by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, pictured in an artist’s impression, in one of Saturn’s rings which is made of ice grains from Enceladus’ south pole

‘This work shows that Enceladus’ ocean has reactive building blocks in abundance, and it’s another green light in the investigation of the habitability of Enceladus,’ added paper co-author and planetary scientist Frank Postberg.

Last year, the team reported the discovery of large, complex molecules that are believed to float atop the surface of Enceladus’ ocean.  

The new study went deeper into the ocean, however, finding compounds dissolved in the waters instead.

‘Here we are finding smaller and soluble organic building blocks — potential precursors for amino acids and other ingredients required for life on Earth,’ said paper author and physicist Jon Hillier. 

The full findings of the study were published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

WHAT IS ENCELADUS AND COULD IT HOST ALIEN LIFE?

Enceladus (pictured) is Saturn's sixth largest moon, at 313 miles wide (504 kilometres)

Enceladus (pictured) is Saturn’s sixth largest moon, at 313 miles wide (504 kilometres)

Enceladus is Saturn’s sixth largest moon, at 313 miles wide (504 kilometres).

It is an icy satellite with hydrothermal activity – a rare combination – with vents spewing water vapour and ice particles out from a global ocean buried beneath the moon’s frozen crust.

A handful of worlds are thought to have liquid water oceans beneath their frozen shell, but only Enceladus sprays its ocean out into space, where a spacecraft can sample it. 

According to Nasa observations, the plume includes organic compounds, volatile gases, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, salts, and silica.

Microbes on our planet either produce these compounds or use them for growth, leading some to speculate that tiny organisms live in Enceladus’s hidden ocean. 

This means that while Enceladus may look ‘inhospitable’ like Saturn’s other moons, it is a prime candidate in our search for alien life.

 

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