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Saturn Moon Holds Recipe for Life

Posted Mar 27, 08 9:27 AM CDT in Science & Health 

(Newser) – Basic components of life like heat, organic chemicals, and water have been found on a Saturn moon, Reuters reports. A spacecraft flying over Enceladus this month spotted 500-mile-high geysers spouting off its surface, containing water vapor and the organic molecules found in living things. Though no one’s saying there’s life on Enceladus, later missions will look for liquid water under its surface.

 “The question that one would ask is: where did the organics come from?” noted a researcher. On Earth, he said, they come from “decaying biological matter,” but on Enceladus, their source may be “geochemistry going on in the interior.” Scientists say there may even be an underground ocean fueling the geysers, which are reminiscent of carbonated water with natural gas.

Source Reuters

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This photo released by NASA on March 9, 2006, shows the surface of Saturn's moon Enceladus as seen from the Cassini spacecraft.   (AP Photo/NASA, JPL, Space Science Institute)
Saturn's moon Enceladus is seen here as a white disk across the unilluminated side of Saturn's rings (black and white stripes across the bottom of the image).   (AP Photo/NASA)
This image released Thursday March 13, 2008 by NASA shows a close up view by the Cassini spacecraft of the Saturn moon, Enceladus' northern pole.   (AP Photo/NASA)
Geyser-like eruptions of ice particles and water vapor shoot out from the south pole of Saturn's moon, Enceladus.   (AP Photo/NASA)
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space  • moon  • extraterrestrial life  • solar system  • Saturn  • organic compounds


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