The high columns of water that cross the thick ice of Enceladus offer an excellent opportunity to conduct research, to find traces of life.
Saturn’s moon Enceladus raises a column of high salt water, analysis shows that the water contains a chemical composition that suggests that the planet can have life: we see very large organic molecules rich in carbon. This discovery suggests that on the surface of the Enceladus Sea, a thin layer of organic matter that exists, not much different from the surface of this Earth, is also extremely rich in organic constituents.
You do it right. We have more evidence to support the hypothesis beneath the thick ice of Enceladus, that giant ocean of life, centered around large hydrothermal vents that emit heat.
Previously, analysis of samples from Enceladus showed only simple organic molecules, which contain very little carbon. This time we have much more convincing evidence.
“We are once again amazed at what Enceladus has to offer,” said Christopher Glein, geochemist and planetary, from the Southeast Studies Institute. “We found organic molecules with masses of over 200 atomic units. It’s 10 times heavier than methane.”
“This complex organic molecule that has sprung from seawater on Enceladus shows that this moon is the only planet, apart from Earth, to meet the basic conditions that are satisfactory for life to exist.”
We would have thought that a frozen moon far from the heat of the sun would not be a good place for life to flourish, but these new findings have convinced us otherwise. Last year, data from the Saturn, flying satellite, Cassini, sent data on the hydrogen molecule in the makeup of the high water column, showing evidence of hydrothermal activity deep under the ice.
Hydrothermal circuits on Earth also produce such by-products: isolation of hydrothermal circuits, underground volcanoes radiate heat from water. We have the ability to visualize what is happening under the ice of Enceladus.
The heat from these circuits allows chemosynthesis. Bacteria surrounding cracks can collect energy from chemical reactions, for example the reaction between hydrogen sulfide in a hydrothermal circuit and oxygen in seawater, creating a sugar molecule that, in other words, feeds bacteria.
“Hydrogen provides chemical energy to support microorganisms that live near hydrothermal vents on Earth,” said physicist Hunter Waite of the Southeast Studies Institute, the principal data scientist on which the INMS system has been sent to. Cassini sent home.
“Once you have identified a viable food source for bacteria, the next question you will ask will be:” What is the nature of these complex organic molecules in the ocean? Seeing the first step in answering this question – the complexity of the chemical molecules we found exceeded all of our predictions! ”
In the future, we will be able to send probes through a large column of water, through the other ice hole to dive deep into the research. It will have a modern spectrometer, which analyzes these molecules more closely with more modern technologies. No project has yet been implemented, we need more evidence.
At present, scientists continue to observe and conduct experiments around the hydrothermal circuit. They wish to deepen their understanding of these circuits, to better understand the possible life on Enceladus.
Based on what we already have, this interesting Enceladus moon is worth investigating. In the near future, we can confirm that life exists outside of Earth. In the distant future, we may be able to follow the evolution of an organism on another planet directly in the solar system. Just dream, because nobody taxes it.
