Enceladus, a Saturn moon just 500 kilometres wide, fires geysers of water thousands of kilometres into space through cracks at its south pole - and that water carries the building blocks of life
Saturn's moon Enceladus is ejecting water and organic compounds into space through geysers at its south pole. Data from the Cassini mission and the James Webb Space Telescope suggest these emissions contain the chemical building blocks necessary for life.
Why it matters
The discovery of habitability markers on a small moon significantly advances our understanding of potential life beyond Earth and guides future space exploration missions.
Enceladus is only about 500 kilometres across, yet it continuously ejects water vapour and ice from fractures near its south pole.
By Space Daily Editorial Team · Editorial process
Enceladus is only about 500 kilometres across, yet it continuously ejects water vapour and ice from fractures near its south pole. The James Webb Space Telescope has mapped that water as far as 10,000 kilometres from the moon, while measurements from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft show that the spray carries salts, phosphates, molecular hydrogen and varied organic compounds.
These are raw materials and possible energy sources associated with habitability. They are not evidence that Enceladus is inhabited. Nearly everything known about the moon’s ocean chemistry has been inferred from material thrown into space rather than measured inside the ocean itself.
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