Sign of LIFE found on Saturn’s moon with huge salty ocean hidden beneath clouds

Charlotte Edwards, Digital Technology and Science Reporter

Published: 6:54 ET, Jul 7 2021
Updated: 8:31 ET, Jul 7 2021

METHANE has been detected on Saturn's icy moon Enceladus and the levels detected are consistent with that of microbes.

A new study suggests that this could be sign of life on Enceladus or just evidence of a chemical process we don't yet understand.

Saturn's Enceladus moon is thought to have a subsurface oceanCredit: Getty - Contributor

Beneath the moon's icy surface, there's thought to be a salty subsurface ocean.

This water bursts through the icy crust sometimes in giant plumes.

Nasa, the European Space Agency, and the Italian Space Agency sent a space probe called Cassini to dive through these plumes.

This is how large amounts of methane were detected as well as other molecules like dihydrogen and carbon dioxide.

An illustration of the interior of Saturn's moon Enceladus showing a global liquid water ocean between its rocky core and icy crustCredit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Researchers think Enceladus's seafloor could have hydrothermal vents similar to ones found on Earth.

We know that the Earthly hydrothermal vents are surrounded by microbes that consume dihydrogen and carbon dioxide and produce methane.

As part of a new experiment, a research team ran models to see what could be the most likely explanation for the large amounts of methane.

They planned out several different scenarios in which microbes would and wouldn't survive and compared them to the results the Cassini probe detected.

Saturn could have up to 82 moonsCredit: Getty - Contributor

Régis Ferrière, co-lead study author, said: "In summary, not only could we evaluate whether Cassini's observations are compatible with an environment habitable for life, but we could also make quantitative predictions about observations to be expected, should methanogenesis (by microbes) actually occur at Enceladus' seafloor.

"Obviously, we are not concluding that life exists in Enceladus' ocean.

"Rather, we wanted to understand how likely it would be that Enceladus' hydrothermal vents could be habitable to Earthlike microorganisms.

"Very likely, the Cassini data tell us, according to our models. And biological methanogenesis appears to be compatible with the data."

Astronomers will continue to research Saturn's Enceladus moon to find out more.

The full study has been published in the journal Nature Astronomy.

Enceladus – the key facts

Here's what you need to know...

Enceladus is Saturn's sixth-largest moon, with a diameter of 310 miles
It's roughly one-tenth the size of Saturn's largest moon, Titan
The moon is largely covered by fresh and clean ice, making it highly reflective
This also means it's very cold, with surface temperatures at noon reaching -198C
The moon was first discovered by British astronomer William Herschel on August 28, 1789
But we learned much more about it after Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft fly-bys. in the 1980s
In 2014, Nasa found evidence to suggest there was a large subsurface ocean of liquid water on Enceladus
And in 2018, scientists discovered complex macromolecular organics on the moon's jet plumes
This has given scientists hope for finding evidence of alien life on the moon

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