😲 Scientists Discover Life Ingredients on Enceladus 😮 – Next Step: Confirming Inhabitation 🚀🌌
A breakthrough new study appears to confirm that Enceladus — an icy, 300 miles-in-diameter moon that orbits Saturn — contains all of the six major ingredients for life, leading scientists to believe that the intriguing Saturnine satellite might indeed be habitable. 🌕🔍
As The Wall Street Journal reports, scientists have been intrigued by Enceladus for years now, as previous studies had shown the presence of five of the six major building blocks of life: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur. Phosphorous, however — the sixth element essential for all known life — was nowhere to be found. 🧪🔬🌌
Until now, that is. According to this new research, by an international team of researchers and published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, phosphorous is located on the moon after all, found in the form of phosphate and buried deep in Encelades’ salty subsurface oceans. 🌊🌑🧪
“Life as we know it doesn’t operate without it,” Christopher Glein, a geochemist from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio and a study co-author, told the WSJ of the now-not-missing element. “It is absolutely critical to your DNA.” 👨🔬🔍🧬
Detecting the phosphate was a fairly tall order, as Encelades’ element-rich ocean is trapped beneath roughly 30-mile-deep sheets of frozen ice. ❄️🌊❄️
But as the WSJ notes, geysers at the Moon’s South Pole are known to blast plumes containing icy material from that ocean into the Moon’s surrounding orbit. And excitingly, before it death-dove into Saturn’s atmosphere back in 2017, NASA’s since-departed Cassini spacecraft had actually gathered some samples of this geyser-rocketed ocean matter. 🚀🛰️🌌
The researchers were able to analyze roughly 1,000 samples of said geyser spittle, and of those thousand or so samples, nine contained phosphate. 🧪🔬🌌
“This is the final [study] saying, ‘Yes, Enceladus does have all of the ingredients that typical Earth life would need to live and that the ocean there is habitable for life as we know it,” NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory chemist Morgan Cable, who was not involved in the new research, told the WSJ, adding that while the discovery doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s life currently on Enceladus, it means it could potentially host it. 🌌🌍👩🔬
“The next step is to figure out if indeed it is inhabited, and it is going to take a future mission to answer that question,” Cable continued. “But this is exciting, because it makes Enceladus an even more compelling destination to go and do that kind of search.” 🚀🌌🔭
No be small tori be dis oh! Enceladus fit be di place wey we go fit find out if life dey for oda planets. Make we dey look and wait for wetin di future go bring! 🚀🌌🔭🌍
As we continue to explore the vastness of space, Enceladus holds the promise of unraveling the mysteries of life beyond our planet. It’s an exhilarating discovery that opens up new horizons for humanity’s quest to understand our place in the universe. Let’s keep our eyes on the skies and eagerly await the next chapter in this cosmic adventure! 🌌🔭🚀🌍
NOW IN ENGLISH
😲 Scientists Discover Life Ingredients on Enceladus 😮 – Next Step: Confirming Inhabitation 🚀🌌
A breakthrough new study seems to confirm that Enceladus, an icy moon about 300 miles in diameter that orbits Saturn, possesses all six major ingredients essential for life. This revelation has led scientists to believe that this captivating Saturnine satellite could indeed be habitable. 🌕🔍
As reported by The Wall Street Journal, scientists have been captivated by Enceladus for years. Previous studies had indicated the presence of five out of the six crucial building blocks of life: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur. However, phosphorous, the sixth vital element necessary for all known life forms, remained elusive. 🧪🔬🌌
But now, a new research study conducted by an international team of researchers, published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, reveals that phosphorous does exist on the moon after all. It has been discovered in the form of phosphate, buried deep within Enceladus’ salty subsurface oceans. 🌊🌑🧪
“Life as we know it doesn’t function without it,” explained Christopher Glein, a geochemist from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio and one of the study’s co-authors, in an interview with the WSJ. “Phosphorous is absolutely critical to your DNA.” 👨🔬🔍🧬
Detecting the presence of phosphate posed a significant challenge since Enceladus’ element-rich ocean is trapped beneath approximately 30-mile-deep layers of frozen ice. ❄️🌊❄️
However, as mentioned by the WSJ, geysers located at the Moon’s South Pole are known to erupt with plumes of icy material from the ocean, scattering it into the Moon’s surrounding orbit. Excitingly, before its mission ended in 2017, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft collected samples of this geyser-propelled ocean material. 🚀🛰️🌌
The researchers were able to analyze around 1,000 samples of this geyser-spewed substance, and nine of those samples contained phosphate. 🧪🔬🌌
“This study conclusively affirms that Enceladus possesses all the necessary ingredients for life as we understand it on Earth. The ocean on Enceladus is potentially habitable,” remarked Morgan Cable, a chemist from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who was not directly involved in the new research, in an interview with the WSJ. She also noted that while this discovery does not confirm the existence of life on Enceladus at present, it signifies the possibility of it hosting life in the future. 🌌🌍👩🔬
“The next step is to determine whether it is indeed inhabited, and that will require a future mission to answer that question,” Cable continued. “Nevertheless, this finding is incredibly exciting as it makes Enceladus an even more compelling destination for conducting such a search.” 🚀🌌🔭
No be small tori be dis oh! Enceladus fit be di place wey we go fit find out if life dey for oda planets. Make we dey look and wait for wetin di future go bring! 🚀🌌🔭🌍
As we continue to explore the vastness of space, Enceladus holds the promise of unraveling the mysteries of life beyond our planet. It’s an exhilarating discovery that opens up new horizons for humanity’s quest to understand our place in the universe. Let’s keep our eyes on the skies and eagerly await the next chapter in this cosmic adventure! 🌌🔭🚀🌍
