Scientists caught Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus spraying a huge plume of watery vapour far into space – and that plume likely contains many of the chemical ingredients for life. “It’s immense,” Sara Faggi, a planetary astronomer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, said. This isn’t the first time scientists have seen Enceladus spout water, but the new telescope’s wider perspective and higher sensitivity showed that the jets of vapour shoot much farther into space than previously realised.
Scientists first learned of Enceladus’ watery blasts in 2005, when NASA’s Cassini spacecraft caught icy particles shooting up through large lunar cracks called ‘tiger stripes’. Analysis revealed that the jets contained methane, carbon dioxide and ammonia – organic molecules containing the chemical building blocks necessary for the development of life. It’s even possible…
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All About Space Annual (Digital) - 1 Issue, All About Space Annual (2024)