Discovery on Saturn’s moon… “Tiny Microbes” support the idea of life
A team of scientists revealed that Enceladus, the sixth-largest moon of Saturn, may have something in common with Earth, namely the presence of “building blocks of life.”
Scientists discovered organic particles in the moon‘s geysers that could support the existence of “communities” of small microbes, as they believe these compounds could support metabolic processes or the formation of amino acids.
Experts already know the presence of phosphates, methane, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide on the surface of Enceladus, all possible signs of life as well, according to the British site “Daily Mail.”
The research team, in the new study conducted by Jona Peter, a Ph.D. student in biophysics at Harvard University in Boston, detailed the results they reached, published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
He said, “We present the discovery of several additional compounds of great importance for the viability of life, as our results indicate the existence of a chemically rich and diverse environment that could support complex organic synthesis and perhaps even the origin of life.”
Enceladus has an outer layer of ice at least 12 miles thick, covering a liquid ocean of water inside.
Long fissures on its icy surface eject massive columns made up of ice particles and water vapor into space.
Before ending its mission in 2017, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft not only imaged the columns of Enceladus but also flew directly through them.
Peter and his colleagues studied the data collected from Cassini’s Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS), gathered during close flybys in 2011 and 2012.
The team identified that the most likely composition of the columns includes the five molecules already discovered: water, carbon dioxide, methane, ammonia, and molecular hydrogen.
The fact that the moon emits methane gas is particularly intriguing, as it is an organic molecule usually produced or used by microbial life.
The research team also found recently identified molecules of hydrogen cyanide (HCN), acetylene (C2H2), propane (C3H6), ethane (C2H6), in addition to methanol and molecular oxygen.
The team says, “Such compounds can serve as direct building blocks for biological growth or act as intermediaries for other reactions involving additional organic materials and oxidants.”
