SATURN. By examining data from the Cassini spacecraft, researchers discovered the presence of phosphorus on one of Saturn’s moons: Enceladus. The icy star therefore houses the six essential elements for the origin of life.
Summary
Five years after its last major leap toward the ringed planet, the Cassini spacecraft isn’t done giving us information about Saturn and its moons. In fact, scientists continue to study the data the spacecraft collects during its mission. A new study published in the journal Nature shows that Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus contains phosphorus, a key element for life as we know it. If we had already detected the presence of the five other vital elements on the star, this is the first time phosphorus has been detected there.
Enceladus is believed to be one of the places where life outside of Earth is most likely. It is a moon containing an ocean hidden under a thick layer of ice. Spectacular geysers escape it, feeding a ring of the planet as they fly by and forming magnificent clouds of vapor around the star. We now know that this ocean contains the six elements essential to life: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulphur. It remains to be seen if this habitable ocean is actually inhabited or not…
What discovery on Enceladus?
A small moon of Saturn, Enceladus is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating stars we know. The satellite is a veritable small frozen sphere enclosing an ocean beneath its icy crust, fascinating scientists. In fact, the six elements necessary for life have been verified in this ocean. It was the Cassini probe that flew over Saturn and its moons between 2004 and 2017 that made this discovery possible thanks to the large amount of data it collected, which is currently being studied by astronomers.
Enceladus thus has the only known extraterrestrial ocean that contains the elements necessary for the emergence of life as we know it. The search for life forms outside of our planet has taken a big step with this discovery. To learn more, we must return to take a closer look at this small frozen moon, more than 1.27 billion kilometers from Earth.
What are the peculiarities of the planet Saturn?
Discovered by Galileo in 1610, Saturn is a planet that does not go unnoticed. Adorned with a multitude of magnificent rings, it makes a fascinating study subject for astronomers fascinated by this extraordinary gas giant. With 145 known satellites, it is the planet in the solar system with the most moons orbiting it. It is also the planet with the lowest density in the solar system. Since it’s eight times less dense than Earth, it would float in a (very large) bathtub filled with water.
Planet Saturn © magann – stock.adobe.com
In addition to its distinctive rings, Saturn also exhibits a surprising geometric pattern that was spotted by the Voyager spacecraft and photographed by the Cassini spacecraft. In fact, it is a hexagonal storm raging at the north pole of the planet. Its size is disproportionate to the planet it is on, as this storm could accommodate three times the width of Earth.
Finally, Saturn is also notable for its shape with flattened poles. It is its gaseous and therefore liquid nature that causes the sphere to deform under the effect of the planet’s particularly high rotational speed.
How many satellites does Saturn have?
With 145 confirmed moons, Saturn is the planet in the solar system with the most satellites. While astronomy enthusiasts know some like Tethys, Mimas or Rhea, the main ones remain Titan and Enceladus. The latter have fascinated researchers for several decades and have become the subject of entire research projects.
If Saturn has so many satellites, this is mainly due to its size, which brings with it great gravity. Saturn, like Jupiter, therefore attracts nearby bodies. It happens that the latter are put into orbit around the planet and become satellites.
Saturn’s largest moon is Titan, which, at 5,149 kilometers in diameter, is one of the few moons larger than the planet Mercury. Titan is known to be the only satellite in the solar system with a dense atmosphere. There are also lakes filled with liquid methane.
Enceladus is a frozen world covered in ice. The Cassini probe that approached this moon captured images of geysers ejecting particles of water ice hundreds of kilometers away. This discovery paved the way for many theories about the possibility of life-form originating in an ocean beneath the Enceladus ice sheet. Future space missions could tell us more about these hypotheses.
What is Saturn’s position in the solar system?
In the solar system, Saturn sits between the planets Jupiter and Uranus. It is sixth in the order of the planets from the sun. It is part of the outer solar system along with Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune.