Tag: Nature Astronomy
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A Million-Sun-Mass Mystery Object Detected by Gravitational Lensing in Deep Space
Unveiling a Dark Messenger: A Million-Sun-Mass Object in Deep Space In a remarkable breakthrough, astronomers have identified a mysterious object weighing about 1,000,000 times the Sun’s mass without emitting light or detectable radiation. The discovery, made possible by the subtle clues left by its gravity, offers a rare glimpse into the elusive world of dark…
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Enceladus Organic Molecules Hint at Life Potential
Enceladus and the Search for Life’s Building Blocks Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus has long fascinated scientists with the possibility that it hosts a subsurface ocean. Even though NASA’s Cassini mission ended in 2017, researchers continue to squeeze new insights from its vast archive. The latest analyses bolster the case that Enceladus isn’t just a cold,…
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Organic Molecules on Enceladus Hint at Possible Life in Its Subsurface Ocean
New Evidence from a Legacy Mission Decades after NASA’s Cassini spacecraft concluded its Saturn mission in 2017, researchers are still mining the archive for clues about one of the Solar System’s most intriguing bodies: Enceladus, Saturn’s icy moon. A recent, meticulous reanalysis of Cassini data strengthens the case that Enceladus harbors a subsurface ocean capable…
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More ingredients for life discovered in ocean on Saturn moon Enceladus
New findings renew the case for a habitable Enceladus The ocean hidden beneath the icy shell of Saturn’s moon Enceladus continues to surprise scientists. A study published in Nature Astronomy reports that the subsurface sea hosts a suite of complex organic molecules — the kinds that, in the right environmental conditions, could be the building…
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Enceladus Ocean Chemistry Proves Complex Organics, Cassini Data Reveal
New evidence of complex chemistry in Enceladus’s ocean A study published in Nature Astronomy re-examines data from NASA’s Cassini mission and confirms that Enceladus’s hidden ocean hosts complex organic chemistry. Fresh ice grains, ejected by jets near the moon’s south pole, carry molecules that point to active, chemistry-rich processes in the ocean itself, strengthening the…
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Cassini proves complex chemistry in Enceladus ocean, boosting ESA mission plans
Fresh clues from Cassini data A major Nature Astronomy study revisits data from NASA’s Cassini mission to Earth’s opponent in the outer Solar System: Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus. The headline takeaway is not just the moon’s hidden ocean, but the surprising chemical complexity that its jets carry into space. Since Cassini first detected water plumes…
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Enceladus Habitable Conditions: Fresh Organics Hint Life
New clues about Enceladus’ habitability Scientists have found fresh types of organic compounds in the icy plumes erupting from Enceladus, a small Saturnian moon with a hidden ocean. The discovery, reported in Nature Astronomy, builds on decades of data from NASA’s Cassini mission and strengthens the case that Enceladus could harbor the chemical conditions necessary…
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Enceladus Organic Clues in Plumes Boost Life-Habitability Prospects
New Organic Clues from Cassini’s Enceladus Plume Data Scientists have updated their view of Enceladus, the small, icy moon of Saturn, by finding new organic molecules in the icy grains ejected from its southern vents. The analysis draws on data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, collected during a 2008 close flyby when the probe sampled the…