Guwahati: One of Saturn’s moons, Enceladus, has phosphorous in its water, an essential component for life as we know it, according to recent research. Data from NASA’s Cassini probe, which examined the Saturn system from 2004 to 2017, were analysed to make the discovery.
The operation of cell membranes, the construction of DNA, and the storage of energy in living things all depend on phosphorus. In addition, it is the least common of the six elements—carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulphur—that are thought to be essential for life.
The scientists discovered phosphorus in ice grains that were launched into space by geysers that erupted from the subsurface ocean of Enceladus. The water is heated by tidal pressures from Saturn underneath a thick layer of ice. Additionally, the geysers feed Saturn’s E ring, a flimsy ring of icy specks that encircles the planet.
According to the study, which was published in the journal Nature, Enceladus has phosphorus concentrations that are at least 100 times greater than those of Earth’s seas. This implies that the ocean has a complex chemical composition that might support life, or at the very least its emergence.
One of our solar system’s most optimistic prospects for discovering extraterrestrial life is Enceladus. Its ocean has been demonstrated in the past to contain organic substances, amino acids, and other elements necessary for life. Phosphorus, however, was up to this point the puzzle’s unsolved mystery.
The discovery of phosphorus on Enceladus, according to the study’s lead author Frank Postberg, a planetary scientist at the Free University in Berlin, is “the first time this essential element has been found in an ocean beyond Earth.” Enceladus is now “a prime candidate for places beyond Earth that could be habitable,” he continued.