Phosphorus in Enceladus: Key Component of Life Discovered in Saturn’s Moon

Data collected by the Cassini space probe, already deactivated, revealed the presence of phosphorus in the form of phosphates, a key component of life as we know it, in the icy ocean of Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons, was released yesterday.

The probe explored Saturn, its ring system and its moons for 13 years, between 2004 and 2017, but its data continues to be studied by scientists.

According to the authors of the research published today in the scientific journal Nature, “abundant phosphorus” was found in ice grains expelled into space from cracks in the icy surface of Enceladus.

The moon has an underground ocean, and water from that ocean erupts through cracks in the icy surface crust like geysers at the south pole, creating a small cloud that feeds one of Saturn’s rings with ice particles.

Analysis of a class of salt-rich ice grains revealed the presence of sodium phosphates – chemically bonded molecules of sodium, oxygen, hydrogen and phosphorus.

Phosphate concentrations from Enceladus are at least 100 times higher than those in Earth’s oceans, according to the study.

Phosphorus in the form of phosphates is essential for life on Earth, namely for the creation of genetic material, energy-carrying molecules, cell membranes, bones and teeth of people and animals, and the plankton microbiome.

It is the first time that this essential chemical element has been discovered in an ocean other than Earth’s seas. Previous studies assumed the existence of phosphorus on Enceladus, only now confirmed with data from the Cassini spacecraft.

Despite the results obtained, which can be extrapolated to other icy oceanic worlds similar to Enceladus, according to the investigation, one of the authors, Christopher Glein, planetary scientist and geochemist, points out that the essential ingredients for life as we know it “may not be sufficient for an extraterrestrial environment to support life”.

“Whether life could have started in the ocean of Enceladus remains an open question,” he said, quoted in a statement from the US space agency (NASA), which led the Cassini mission and which has archived data from the probe.

Saturn is the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter, and belongs to the group of gas giants.