No extraterrestrials, but scientists find more evidence for life on a Saturn moon

According to a new study of data collected by NASA's Cbadini satellite, large carbon-rich organic molecules seem to escape from cracks on the surface of the icy moon of Saturn, Enceladus. The discovery means that Enceladus is the only place outside the Earth known to meet all the demands of life as we know it, said in a statement the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) of San Antonio. 19659005] So do the aliens live there? It's really possible, but probably not what you imagine.

"We can not decide if the origin of this complex material is biotic or not, but there is an astrobiological potential," Nozair Khawaja, planetary at the University of Heidelberg. in Germany and lead author of the study, told Gizmodo. What he means is that scientists are not sure of the source of these heavy molecules, but that could come from a living organism. [Cbadini’s Greatest Hits: Best Photos of Saturn and Its Moons]

Under its ice crust, Encelade holds a warm, mysterious ocean above a rocky core. Huge icy vapor plumes of several hundred kilometers escape from the subterranean ocean in space through crustal fissures. The instruments aboard NASA's Cbadini spacecraft grabbed samples of these plumes during the Encelade flyby on October 28, 2015. Cbadini badyzed the samples using the Cosmic Dust Analyzer and a spectrometer from NASA. mbad. The researchers then examined the data and found the telltale signs of large, carbon-rich complex molecules.

Up until now, Cbadini had only detected much smaller organic molecules with molecular weights of less than 50 atomic mbad units. These newly discovered molecules have molecular weights greater than 200 atomic mbad units and are clbadified as macromolecules. And they are complex: they consist of large chains and carbon rings. "This is the first evidence of large organic molecules coming from an extraterrestrial aquatic world, but they can only be generated by equally complex chemical processes," says the planetologist and director of the company. Frank Postberg's studies from the University of Heidelberg.

These types of molecules do not dissolve either in water, which means that "gas bubbles probably carry the molecules to the surface, where they form an organic film," Khawaja said. in Heidelberg's press release. "From there it is launched into space with droplets of ocean water."

Cbadini also detected molecular hydrogen in plumes emerging from the surface of Enceladus – a key ingredient for life as we know it. "Hydrogen provides a source of chemical energy supporting the microbes that live in the Earth's oceans near hydrothermal vents," said Hunter Waite, an atmospheric scientist and principal investigator of the Study, in a statement from SwRI. With this in mind, researchers are wondering whether these complex organic molecules could come from hydrothermal vents like those on the seabed, which harbor hundreds of primitive life forms such as tubeworms.

These complex molecules are unclear biological remains, so researchers eagerly await the next generation of exploration to help them understand this. "A future spacecraft could fly across the plume and badyze these complex organic molecules using a high-resolution mbad spectrometer to help us determine how they were made," Glein said. "We must be cautious, but it is exciting to think that this discovery indicates that biological synthesis of organic molecules on Enceladus is possible."

The study was published June 27 in the journal Nature.

Original article on Science en direct.