Scientists discover the molecules necessary for the lunar life of Saturn | Science and Health

Until now, such molecules had only been found on Earth and in some meteorites.

It is thought that they were formed by reactions between water and hot rocks in an underground ocean of Enceladus.

Although this is not a sign of the existence of life, it indicates that the moon of Saturn may be able to house organisms that already exist.

The discovery was made by badyzing the data collected by the Cbadini spacecraft.

Precursors necessary for life

"These huge molecules contain a complex network typically consisting of hundreds of atoms," says author of the study, Frank Postberg.

"It is the first detection of the history of organisms of this complexity in an extraterrestrial aquatic environment."

On Earth, such molecules are usually created biologically, but this may not be the case on Saturn.

"They (the molecules) are precursors necessary for life," says Postberg. But regarding the discovery of Enceladus, "to date, we do not know if these organisms are biologically irrelevant or whether they are signs of life or prebiotic chemistry".

For life to exist, it is necessary to have liquid water, energy, organic matter (carbon compounds) and a particular group of elements (hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur).

Phosphorus and sulfur have never been found in Enceladus, but the other ingredients are present there.

Cbadini has never been designed to detect life – in fact, the space mission was launched even before scientists knew about the particular water sources emerging from the Enceladus South Pole.

The probe has disintegrated in 2017 after spending 13 years exploring Saturn – and having documented in 2005 the existence of frozen water geysers there.

An important detail is that there already exists on Earth a technology capable of distinguishing if the molecules found in Saturn are of biological origin.