Cassini: Complex Organics Bubble up from Ocean-World Enceladus
Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 11:05 pm
Complex Organics Bubble up from Ocean-world Enceladus
NASA | JPL-Caltech | Cassini | 2018 Jun 27
Complex Organics Bubble from the Depths of Ocean-World Enceladus
ESA Space Science | Cassini | 2018 Jun 27
Evidence of Complex Organic Molecules from Enceladus
Southwest Research Institute | 2018 Jun 27
Macromolecular organic compounds from the depths of Enceladus - Frank Postberg et al
NASA | JPL-Caltech | Cassini | 2018 Jun 27
Data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft reveal complex organic molecules originating from Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus, strengthening the idea that this ocean world hosts conditions suitable for life. Research results show much larger, heavier molecules than ever before.
Powerful hydrothermal vents mix up material from the moon’s water-filled, porous core with water from the moon’s massive subsurface ocean – and it is released into space, in the form of water vapor and ice grains. A team led by Frank Postberg and Nozair Khawaja of the University of Heidelberg, Germany, continues to examine the makeup of the ejected ice and has recently identified fragments of large, complex organic molecules.
Previously, Cassini had detected small, relatively common organic molecules at Enceladus that were much smaller. Complex molecules comprising hundreds of atoms are rare beyond Earth. The presence of the large complex molecules, along with liquid water and hydrothermal activity, bolsters the hypothesis that the ocean of Enceladus may be a habitable environment for life. ...
Complex Organics Bubble from the Depths of Ocean-World Enceladus
ESA Space Science | Cassini | 2018 Jun 27
Evidence of Complex Organic Molecules from Enceladus
Southwest Research Institute | 2018 Jun 27
Macromolecular organic compounds from the depths of Enceladus - Frank Postberg et al
- Nature 558(7711):564 (28 Jun 2018) DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0246-4