“Enceladus” photographed by NASA’s unmanned spacecraft Cassini in 2010. Water vapor erupts from the cracks on its surface. (NASA)
[The Epoch Times, December 18, 2023](Epoch Times reporter Chen Juncun reported) The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)’s unmanned spacecraft Cassini (Cassini) obtained the Saturn satellite “Enceladus” many years ago. ” (Enceladus, also known as Enceladus) information. When scientists subsequently analyzed the data, they learned that there were key ingredients related to the origin of life on the satellite. This means that the moon may be a habitable world for life.
NASA said that scientists have previously known that Enceladus, an icy moon, has water vapor ejected from the surface and is rich in organic compounds. Some of these compounds are important to life as we know it.
Now, after analyzing the data obtained by Cassini, scientists have discovered that hydrogen cyanide, a key molecule related to the origin of life, is present on Enceladus. It is also an energy source that can charge life. This can further prove the habitability of the satellite.
The new study also suggests that the ocean beneath Enceladus’ outer icy shell may be rich in chemical energy. This source of energy comes in the form of a variety of organic compounds, some of which power living things on Earth.
The study, published Dec. 14 in the journal Nature Astronomy, suggests there may be more sources of chemical energy on Enceladus than previously thought. The more energy that satellite has, the more likely life is to thrive and sustain.
Saturn and its moons photographed by NASA’s unmanned spacecraft Cassini in 2007. Among them, the satellite in the center is “Enceladus”. (NASA)
Jonah Peter, lead author of the study and a doctoral student at Harvard University, said in a press release that the study provides further evidence that Enceladus hosts some of the most important molecules that could create life. The building blocks of life can also be maintained through metabolic reactions.
“The discovery of hydrogen cyanide is particularly exciting because it is the starting point for most theories of the origin of life,” Peter said.
Life as we know it requires the building blocks of life, such as amino acids, and hydrogen cyanide is one of the most important molecules needed to form amino acids because the molecules can be stacked together in many different ways.
In 2017, scientists found evidence that Enceladus has a chemical composition capable of sustaining life. These chemicals may be present in the moon’s ocean. The combination of carbon dioxide, methane and hydrogen found on the satellite may contribute to methanogenesis, a metabolic process that produces methane. On Earth, this common process may have been crucial to the formation of life.
“If methane production is like a small watch battery in terms of energy, then our The results suggest that Enceladus’ ocean may provide something more akin to a car battery, capable of providing large amounts of energy for any life that might exist.”
Although Cassini completed its mission in 2017 and crashed into Saturn’s atmosphere, researchers say this study shows that the data collected by the spacecraft continues to help scientists explore Saturn and its many moons, including Wei Er.
Editor in charge: Ye Ziwei
