Extraterrestrial life! A new discovery enhances this possibility
The discovery of phosphorus on Saturn increases the possibility of finding extraterrestrial life
Scientists have made an amazing discovery in the world of astronomy, which is the presence of phosphorous in Saturn, which is the substance that is considered the first necessary condition for life. Which increases the possibility of finding extraterrestrial life.
The long-running search for extraterrestrial life is getting a boost. Phosphorus, an essential element for life, has been found in an ocean beneath the icy surface of Enceladus, one of Saturn's moons.
This discovery, which was made based on a study of data collected by the Cassini probe of the US Space Agency (NASA), was published Wednesday (June 14, 2023) through the prestigious scientific journal "Nature".
The Cassini probe explored Saturn, its rings and moons from 2004 until its destruction in the gas giant's atmosphere in 2017.
"This is an amazing discovery in the field of astrobiology," said Christopher Glenn of the Southwest Research Institute, one of the authors on the paper. "We found abundant phosphorous in ice column samples ejected from the underground ocean," he added.
Hot geysers at Enceladus' south pole spit tiny icy particles into space that feed Saturn's E ring, the giant planet's outermost and thinnest.
Scientists had previously discovered minerals and organic compounds in the ice particles released by Enceladus, but not phosphorous, which is an essential component of DNA and RNA that is also found in the bones and teeth of humans and animals, and even in ocean plankton.
In fact, life as we know it could not exist without phosphorus.
This is the first time that phosphorous has been discovered outside of Earth
And geochemical models talked about the possibility of the presence of phosphorus in these particles, an expectation published in a previous scientific article, but this has not yet been confirmed, according to Christopher Glenn.
"This is the first time that this essential element has been discovered in an ocean that does not exist on Earth," Frank Postberg, a planetary scientist at the Free University of Berlin, said in statements made by NASA's statement.
To make this discovery, the study authors meticulously analyzed the data collected by the Cassini probe's "Cosmic Dust Analyzer". They confirmed the results by conducting laboratory experiments to prove that the ocean of Enceladus contains phosphorus in various forms that are soluble in water.
Over the past 25 years, planetary scientists have discovered that many worlds with oceans lie beneath a surface layer of ice in our solar system.
There are some of them, for example, on Europa, the moon of Jupiter ; and on Titan, Saturn's largest moon, and even on the dwarf planet Pluto.
Planets with surface oceans, such as Earth, must be far enough from their star to maintain temperatures that provide conditions for life to survive.
And the discovery of worlds with subterranean oceans increases the number of potentially habitable planets.
"With this discovery, it is now known that Enceladus' ocean satisfies what is generally considered the first necessary condition for life," said Christopher Glenn.
"The next step is clear, we have to go back to Enceladus and see if the habitable ocean is already inhabited," he added.
Source : websites