Tag: plumes
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Heat Leaks on Enceladus: A Strong Case for Life Beneath Saturn’s Icy Crust
New heat measurements renew Enceladus’ astrobiological promise Scientists have detected excess heat escaping from the north pole of Enceladus, one of Saturn’s small but scientifically mighty moons. The finding adds a crucial data point to the growing view that Enceladus hosts a subsurface ocean kept warm by internal energy sources. Such an energy balance is…
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Space Radiation May Create Some Organic Molecules Detected on Icy Moons
Rethinking the Origins of Enceladus’s Organics For years, the plumes jetting from Saturn’s moon Enceladus have been a tantalizing clue in the search for habitability beyond Earth. The Cassini mission detected a suite of organic molecules in these icy geysers, suggesting a chemically rich environment beneath the frozen crust and a potential link to a…
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Space Radiation May Create Some Organic Molecules Found in Enceladus Plumes
New insight into Enceladus’s chemistry Scientists are reconsidering how organic molecules detected in plumes erupting from Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus should be interpreted. A recent study proposes that some compounds previously thought to come from a subsurface ocean could instead be produced by natural radiation near the moon’s surface. While this doesn’t rule out a…
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Space Radiation Could Create Organics on Enceladus and Other Icy Moons
Radiation Chemistry Isn’t Just for Earth: Implications for Enceladus For years, scientists have looked at the plumes erupting from Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus as a direct window into a hidden subsurface ocean. The idea was simple: material sampled in space could reveal the ocean’s chemistry, including potential building blocks of life. A growing body of…
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New Organic Molecules Found in Enceladus Water Jets
Enceladus Reveals a Rich Chemical World Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus keeps delivering surprises from beneath its southern ice: recent work based on archival data from NASA’s Cassini mission has identified a suite of complex organic molecules in the water jets that spray from its south pole. The findings bolster the view that Enceladus hosts a…