More evidence suggests Saturn’s moon Enceladus could support life

A fresh look at data collected by NASA‘s Cassini spacecraft has uncovered more evidence that Saturn’s moon Enceladus may be able to support life, with additional complex organic molecules identified from the geyser-like jets of ice grains that spew into space from this small icy world’s subsurface ocean.

Researchers re-examined in great detail data obtained when Cassini conducted its closest flyby of Enceladus in 2008, including when it flew directly through plumes of ice grains and gases erupting from the ice-encrusted moon’s surface through fractures near its south pole. In doing so, they were able to gain a clearer picture of the moon’s subsurface chemistry.

In addition to confirming the presence of certain organic molecules, including precursors for amino acids — the building blocks of proteins, the large and complex molecules essential for life —previously detected in the plumes, they found new classes of organic molecules not spotted before.

“We have found several categories of organic — meaning primarily carbon-containing — molecules that span a range of structures and chemical properties,” said Nozair Khawaja, a planetary scientist at Freie Universität Berlin and lead author of the study published this week in the journal Nature Astronomy.

These are the type of molecules that could be involved under the right circumstances in the processes leading to the formation of more complex organic compounds that are essential components for life.

“Such compounds are believed to be intermediates in the synthesis of more complex molecules, which could be potentially biologically relevant. It is important to note, however, that these molecules can be formed abiotically as well without any interaction with life on Earth,” Khawaja said.

Enceladus is considered one of the most intriguing places in our Solar System to look for possible life beyond Earth. Named after a giant in ancient Greek mythology, it is one of the innermost moons of the ringed gas giant Saturn, our Solar System’s second-largest planet. It has a diameter of 504 km and orbits Saturn at a distance of roughly 2,38,000 km.