Enceladus, an icy moon of Saturn, has ejected phosphorus into an extraterrestrial ocean, marking the first detection of this vital and scarce element for life as we understand it. And Enceladus can be a Saturn moon suitable for life as some studies suggest.
In this article we are going to tell you everything you need to know about Saturn's moon suitable for life and why this is thought.
Essential components for the existence of life
Researchers propose that Enceladus' hidden seas may contain concentrations of phosphorus potentially 100 times greater than those found in Earth's oceans, improving the fertility of our planet's soil. These groundbreaking discoveries also indicate that other icy celestial bodies, including Europa, Jupiter's fourth largest moon, and Saturn's largest moon Titan, can also host phosphorus-rich waters.
According to Frank Postberg, a planetary scientist at the Free University of Berlin (Germany), phosphorus is the rarest element in the universe among the six elements essential for life (carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur). Phosphates, which are phosphorus-containing compounds, play a vital role in crucial components of life on Earth, including DNA, RNA, and cell membranes.
Astronomers had already identified five of the six essential components of extraterrestrial oceans, with phosphorus being the only element missing. However, in 2004, the Cassini spacecraft embarked on a mission to explore Saturn's E ring, which is formed by ice grains ejected from Enceladus. Through an analysis of ice grains collected by Cassini's cosmic dust analyzer, scientists finally discovered the elusive phosphorus. This innovative finding is documented in a recent study published in the prestigious journal Nature.
Saturn's moon suitable for life
With a diameter of approximately 500 kilometers, Enceladus, one of Saturn's largest moons, can easily fit within the Iberian Peninsula. Following the arrival of the Cassini spacecraft to Saturn in 2004, Scientists initially anticipated that Enceladus would be a solid mass of frozen ice. However, their expectations were shattered the following year when they discovered the presence of water vapor and icy particles erupting from geysers on the moon's surface, discovering the existence of a vast global ocean located between its icy exterior and rocky interior. .
In a previous study, Postberg, the lead author, and his team made an intriguing finding: the potential presence of complex organic molecules within Enceladus's ocean. According to Carolyn Porco, a planetary scientist and leader of the Cassini imaging team, who was not part of the research, Enceladus is the most favorable place in our solar system to search for extraterrestrial life. It is considered the easiest target to investigate, which makes it very promising.
Perhaps, against all odds, there is a possibility of the existence of Martians, even if they are minuscule in size.
Essential material is suitable for life on the moon of Saturn
The absence of phosphorus in the ice of Enceladus and similar celestial bodies had already cast doubt on their possible habitability. The question of whether these places could actually support life was a matter of uncertainty. "There were real concerns about whether phosphorus could serve as a limiting factor for the emergence of life," Postberg explains.
According to Postberg, previous theories about the presence of phosphates in the hidden seas of Enceladus and other icy worlds were inconclusive. Dissolving phosphates in water is a challenging process, which makes its detection within the oceans more complex.
Initially, studies indicated that the rocky cores of these celestial bodies could potentially retain phosphates. However, more recent research has suggested that phosphates may also be abundant in the oceans.
During the period from 2004 to 2008, Cassini analyzed a total of 345 ice grains from Saturn's E ring, and within this sample, scientists were able to identify the presence of phosphates in nine of these grains.
According to Postberg, what stood out most was the remarkable clarity and undeniable presence of phosphate signatures in the data. Analysis of a substantial amount of data took several years, but in my view, this detection is truly indisputable.
Chris McKay, an astrobiologist at NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, who was not involved in this research, expresses surprise at the impressive ability of Postberg and his colleagues to effectively separate the grains and identify the phosphorus signal.
The clouds of Venus have been the subject of recent attention due to the controversial claim of the presence of phosphine, a compound composed of phosphorus and hydrogen. However, Gabriel Tobie, a planetary scientist at the French National Center for Scientific Research, who was not involved in the study, says there is no dispute about Enceladus. Clarifies that phosphate and phosphine are different entities.
According to Tobie, the presence of phosphates on Enceladus can be explained without the need for unusual reactions, while the existence of phosphine on Venus poses a much more challenging explanation.
exploring the depths
Postberg explains that scientists were able to estimate phosphorus concentrations in Enceladus' waters based on phosphate levels observed in frozen beans. His findings indicated that phosphorus concentrations in Enceladus' waters were significantly higher, between 100 and 1000 times larger, compared to Earth's oceans. Laboratory experiments conducted by the scientists supported this possibility and revealed that Enceladus's ocean, like the soda, contains abundant dissolved carbonates. As a result, this soda-like ocean has the ability to dissolve the phosphates present in Enceladus' rocks.
Postberg suggests that the icy oceanic realms of celestial bodies in the far reaches of our solar system, including Pluto and Triton, Neptune's largest moon, are likely to contain carbonates. This implies that these icy worlds have the ability to dissolve phosphates from rock formations. Additionally, NASA's next Europa Clipper mission, set to begin in 2024, has the potential to identify phosphates within frozen particles ejected by Jupiter's moon.
While the discovery of phosphates on Enceladus presents intriguing prospects, questions remain unresolved due to the limited number of ice grains analyzed by scientists. Tobie suggests that further exploration is required to determine the presence of these phosphates throughout Enceladus's ocean or if they are located in specific areas.
I hope that with this information you can learn more about Saturn's moon suitable for life and its conditions.