NASA finds energy source and molecule at Saturn's moon Enceladus
File photo.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has made an interesting discovery on Saturday's icy moon Enceladus. A study by NASA on Thursday (Dec 14) showed that the agency found evidence of a key ingredient for life and a supercharged source of energy to fuel it. Scientists have known that the giant plume of ice grains and water vapour spewing from Enceladus is rich in organic compounds.
"Now, scientists analyzing data from NASA’s Cassini mission are taking the evidence for habitability a step further: They’ve found strong confirmation of hydrogen cyanide, a molecule that is key to the origin of life," the study said.
Researchers also uncovered evidence that an ocean, which is hiding below the moon's icy outer shell and supplies the plume, holds a powerful source of chemical energy. "Unidentified until now, the energy source is in the form of several organic compounds, some of which, on Earth, serve as fuel for organisms," according to NASA.
The study's findings indicate there may be more chemical energy inside Enceladus than previously thought.
The study's lead author Jonah Peter said hiswork provides further evidence that the moon is a host to "some of the most important molecules for both creating the building blocks of life and for sustaining that life through metabolic reactions."
“Not only does Enceladus seem to meet the basic requirements for habitability, we now have an idea about how complex biomolecules could form there, and what sort of chemical pathways might be involved,” said Peter, a doctoral student at Harvard University who performed much of the research while working at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Previous evidence found in 2017
In 2017, scientists found evidence at Enceladusthat could help sustain life, if present, in its ocean. The combination of carbon dioxide, methane, and hydrogen in the plume was suggestive of methanogenesis, a metabolic process that produces methane, NASA said.
Thursday's study has uncovered evidence for additional chemical sources far more powerful and diverse than the making of methane.
“If methanogenesis is like a small watch battery, in terms of energy, then our results suggest the ocean of Enceladus might offer something more akin to a car battery, capable of providing a large amount of energy to any life that might be present,” said JPL’s Kevin Hand, co-author of the study.
Reliance on statistical analyses
Unlike earlier research where lab experiments and geochemical modelling were used to replicate the conditions the Cassini mission found at Enceladus, researchers this time relied on detailed statistical analyses.
They examined data collected by Cassini’s ion and neutral mass spectrometer, which studied the gas, ions, and ice grains around Saturn, NASA said.
"By quantifying the amount of information contained in the data, the authors were able to tease out subtle differences in how well different chemical compounds explain the Cassini signal," it added.