This post was originally published on here
A small icy moon orbiting Saturn is a likely candidate to host outer space life, as a major space organisation is targeting Enceladus to uncover life beyond earth
Experts have found that Saturn’s icy moon is a likely place to find ‘extraterrestrial life’ and has the stability to become a habitable home. It comes as ‘slushy tunnels’ were previously found beneath the planet’s largest moon which could ‘harbour alien life.’
The European Space Agency is targeting a small moon called Enceladus in its search for life elsewhere in the solar system. Now, a recent study further proves the potential the moon has the ability to host outer-space life.
The data comes from the Cassini spacecraft, which orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017. Back in 2005, the spaceship unearthed geyser-like plumes of water vapor and ice grains erupting continuously out of cracks in Enceladus’ icy shell. It comes after a scientist makes an ‘extremely puzzling’ find on ‘spaceship’ 3I/ATLAS that shouldn’t be there.
In the latest study, Nozair Khawaja and his team from the Free University of Berlin aimed to analyse a Cassini sample of material from Enceladus’ south pole. The sample was from a ‘fast flyby’ to make sure results weren’t skewered by radiation.
Early Cassini samples were found to contain sodium salts, suggesting the plumes are fed by an underground liquid water ocean in contact with a rocky bottom.
This could mean that Enceladus’ underground ocean, positioned between ice and rock is across the whole moon. The ocean is likely sustained by tidal flexing.
This is where the differing gravitational tug of Saturn on Enceladus stretches and squeezes it, causing Enceladus to heat up and preventing the ocean from freezing.
The results are one step further in understanding whether Enceladus contains the necessary ingredients for life as we know it: a suitable energy source and a mix of important chemical elements.
In 2024, the ESA announced that it was targeting Enceladus in its mission to find extraterrestrial life.
At the time, the space agency said: “Aiming for transformational science, considering the characteristics of each moon and future planned missions to Jupiter and Saturn’s ocean worlds, the scientists identified Saturn’s moon Enceladus as the most compelling target, followed by Saturn’s moon Titan and then Jupiter’s moon Europa.
“No space agency has ever landed on little Enceladus. And yet it has enormous potential for new science, particularly in the realm of habitability.
“It is generally accepted that there are three conditions for a ‘habitable environment’ to potentially support life as we know it: the presence of liquid water, a source of energy, and a specific set of chemical elements.”
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.
