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Posted on 3 Apr 2019
"Once again we are blown away by Enceladus. Previously, we had identified only the simplest organic molecules containing a few carbon atoms, but even that was very intriguing, "said Christopher Glein of the Southwest Research Institute, a space scientist in extraterrestrial chemical oceanography in June 2018.
"We have now found organic molecules with masses greater than 200 atomic mass units," added Glein. "It's ten times heavier than methane. With complex organic molecules emanating from its ocean of liquid water, this moon is the only known body, apart from Earth, to simultaneously satisfy all the basic requirements of life as we know it. "
In a new 2019 effort announced today by Phys.org, a team of researchers, one with the University of Maryland, the other with the Southwest Research Institute, sought to determine why Enceladus is unique in the Saturn system in designing its model to mimic the behavior of Saturn and its moons over the previous 4.5 billion years, which showed that Enceladus had developed an underground ocean because of its unique gravitational interactions with the other moons – they had forced Encelade into an oblong orbit.
NASA explores an offshore volcano off Hawaii – test run for missions in Ocean World of Enceladus & Beyond
The 2018 effort used NASA's Cassini probe mass spectrometry data, revealing that large carbon-rich organic molecules are ejected from fissures on the surface of the icy moon (the image above illustrating the NASA Cassini probe flying through a plume). Scientists at the Southwest Research Institute believe that the chemical reactions between the moon's rock core and the hot water of its submarine ocean are linked to these complex molecules.
A bit of history: before its desorbitation in September 2017, Cassini had sampled the plume of material emerging from the basement of Enceladus. The Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA) and SwRI-directed Ion Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS) performed measurements in both the Saturn plume and ring E, formed by the ice grains of the plume that escape the gravity of Enceladus.
During Cassini's Enceladus flyby on October 28, 2015, INMS detected molecular hydrogen as the spacecraft flew through the plume. Previous overflights have highlighted the presence of a global submarine ocean above a rocky core. It is thought that molecular hydrogen in the plume is formed by the geochemical interaction between water and rocks in hydrothermal environments.
The global ocean of Enceladus is heated for billions of years – "A chemical treat for microbes" (VIDEO)
"Hydrogen provides a source of chemical energy that supports the microbes that live in the Earth's oceans near the hydrothermal vents," said Hunter Waite, principal investigator of the INMS at SwRI. "Once you have identified a potential source of food for microbes, the next question is," What is the nature of complex organic substances in the ocean? "
The global ocean of Enceladus is heated for billions of years – "A chemical treat for microbes" (VIDEO)
The SWRI discoveries of 2018 are also of great significance for the next generation of exploration, Glein said. "A future spacecraft could fly over the Enceladus plume and analyze these complex organic molecules with the help of a high-resolution mass spectrometer to help us determine how they were made." We must be cautious, but it is exciting to think that this discovery indicates that the biological synthesis of organic molecules on Enceladus is possible. "
The Daily Galaxy via the Southwest Research Institute and Phys.org
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