"For nearly two decades Enceladus, a 500-kilometer-wide moon of Saturn, has been a top target in the hunt for extraterrestrial life. In 2005, shortly after arriving in orbit around the ringed planet, the joint NASAEuropean Space Agency (ESA) Cassini mission found clinching evidence that Enceladus harbored a liquid-water ocean beneath its bright-white icy crustplumes of seawater spraying up from the moon's south pole."
"Now scientists revisiting data from Cassiniwhich ended its mission in 2017have spied even more tantalizing ingredients in the plumes: suites of complex organic molecules which, on Earth, are involved in the chemistry associated with even bigger molecules considered essential for biology. Published Wednesday in Nature Astronomy, the discovery bolsters the case for follow-up missions to search for signs of life within Saturn's enigmatic, ocean-bearing moon."
Enceladus, a 500-kilometer-wide moon of Saturn, harbors a subsurface liquid-water ocean and sprays plumes of seawater from its south pole. Cassini's 2005 observations provided clinching evidence for the hidden ocean, and analyses of ice grains in the plumes revealed molecular building blocks of life. Reanalysis of Cassini data has identified suites of complex organic molecules in the plumes that on Earth participate in chemistry leading to larger, biologically relevant molecules. The discovery was published in Nature Astronomy and strengthens the rationale for follow-up missions to search for signs of life. The findings demonstrate notable chemical complexity within Enceladus's subsurface ocean.
Read at www.scientificamerican.com
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