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Complex organic molecules were discovered, originating from one of Saturn's moons Enceladus, adding to its potential to support life, researchers said Wednesday.
The Cbadini spacecraft flew near the moon-covered ice in 2005 as part of a data collection mission on Saturn that will be badyzed for years to come.
A team led by Frank Postberg and Nozair Khawaja of the University of Heidelberg in Germany reported identifying fragments of large organic particles. molecules in the ice grains that were ejected from the geysers through cracks in the frozen exterior of the moon.
Their discoveries were published in the journal of Nature
"This is the first-ever detection of complex organic compounds derived from other species. an extraterrestrial aquatic world, "said Postberg in a statement posted on the European Space Agency's website.
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Cbadini-Huyge ns / Complex_organics_bubble_from_the_depths_of_ocean-world_Enceladus
Cbadini has already detected light organic molecules in Enceladus but the newly found fragments are much larger. These large molecules can only be created by complex chemical processes, including those related to life, says ESA.
"This is the most recent of a long series of discoveries made by Cbadini that painted Enceladus as a potentially habitable aquatic world, but even so that indicates that Enceladus may have conditions that could allow life, organic compounds can also come from other sources, such as meteorites.
Postberg said the fragments could come from hydrothermal activity "In my opinion, the fragments we found are of hydrothermal origin, having been treated in the hydrothermally active core of Enceladus: in the high pressures and hot temperatures that we expect there, it is possible that complex organic molecules The Cbadini joint mission between NASA, ESA and the Italian Space Agency ended in 2017.
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