Scientists have long been fascinated with Saturn’s sixth-largest moon for its icy surface and mysterious hidden ocean that lies beneath. Enceladus has long been a subject of discussion as a potential home for extraterrestrial life. The recent detection of phosphorus, an essential chemical element for life, is giving these conversations a whole new meaning.
Utilizing data obtained from close flybys of Enceladus by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, an international team of researchers discovered phosphorus compounds inside tiny grains of ice ejected from the moon’s subsurface ocean.
Phosphorus is an essential element for living organisms. The compound’s discovery indicates complex chemistry could be taking place beneath the moon’s icy crust. Its presence and availability are seen as critical factors in determining the potential for life to exist and thrive in any given environment.
Enceladus is known for having plumes or geysers of water that erupt through cracks in the moon’s icy crust. Sometimes these can extend hundreds of miles into space; more than 20 times the size of the moon itself.
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From 2004 to 2017, Cassini routinely flew through these plumes of ice particles using its suite of onboard instruments to analyze their chemical composition. The spacecraft was decommissioned in 2017, but its data continues to be studied today.
“We previously found that Enceladus’ ocean is rich in a variety of organic compounds,” said Frank Postberg, the planetary scientist who led the new study, referring to concentrations of sodium, potassium, chlorine, and other compounds discovered in a previous study in 2019.
“But now, this new result reveals the clear chemical signature of substantial amounts of phosphorus salts inside icy particles ejected into space by the small moon’s plume. It’s the first time this essential element has been discovered in an ocean beyond Earth.”
A closer exploration of Enceladus will be crucial to understanding the full extent of its habitability. Future missions, such as the proposed Enceladus Orbilander in the 2050s, could potentially land on the surface of the moon and search for signs of life directly.
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