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#^Study On NASA Cassini Lead To Discovery Of Organics From Saturn’s MoonBack in 2008, the NASA Cassini mission collected samples of icy material from Saturn’s moon Enceladus and returned them to Earth. A few months ago, some researchers analysed the samples and
found evidence of organic compounds that had gone undetected for years.
A Study Into The Samples Collected From Saturn’s Moon
The samples from Saturn’s moon collected by the NASA Cassini mission were icy water sprayed from plumes along Enceladus. The ice water ejected from the plumes comes from the ocean beneath the frozen shell of
Enceladus.
After analysing the sample, researchers found organic compounds that have gone undetected over the years. In addition to this discovery, the researchers also found new organic compounds which point to ongoing chemical or biological activity under Enceladus’ frozen shell.
The researchers suspect that the chemical or biological activity going on under Enceladus’ frozen shell might be similar to some here on Earth. This means that there is a chance that the conditions in the ocean under Encaladus’ frozen shell might be able to support life.
Nozair Khawaja of Freie University, Berlin and lead author of the study, says, “Previously, we detected organics in ice grains that were years old and potentially altered by the intense radiation environment surrounding them.” Khawaja adds, “These new organic compounds were just minutes old, found in ice that was fresh from the ocean below Enceladus’ surface.”
The
NASA Cassini mission previously revealed that Saturn’s E-ring, made up of icy materials from Enceladus’ plumes, contains nitrogen-and oxygen-bearing organic compounds. However, new research looks to analyse materials collected directly from Enceladus’ plumes.
What Organic Materials Did The NASA Cassini Mission Find On Saturn’s Moon?
To collect the icy grains ejected from Eceladus’ plumes, the
NASA Cassini Mission relied on its Cosmic Dust Analyser. This instrument was only able to collect ions of the icy grains as they smashed against Ed it during the mission’s fly by.
However, after analysing the available samples, researchers found compounds from the aliphatic and cyclic ester and ether families. Other organic materials found were nitrogen-and oxygen-bearing compounds.
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Study On NASA Cassini Lead To Discovery Of Organics From Saturn’s Moon appeared first on
Orbital Today.
