The basic element for life was found on Saturn’s moon

The relentless search for extraterrestrial life – or evidence of it – has generated some interesting results for the scientific community. After observations on the surface of Enceladus, a moon orbiting Saturn, researchers found evidence of water with dissolved phosphorous in the star.

Phosphorous is a very important chemical element in the formation of life. It is he who produces the phosphates found in cell membranes, in DNA and RNA nucleotides and in the production of energy, through cellular respiration. Everything indicates that this component must be present in relatively high concentrations in the vicinity of Enceladus.

The planets with the sea are spread under the surface layer of ice in our solar system. It was one of the most important discoveries made in planetary science in the past 25 years. Among these worlds are distant objects such as Pluto and satellites of giant planets such as Europa – one of Jupiter’s moons – and Titan and Enceladus – the two moons that orbit Saturn -.

For surface oceans to remain liquid, as they do on Earth, planets must remain within a certain range of their host stars. This location is able to guarantee temperatures that allow liquid water to be present on the surface.

However, with the discovery of intra-planetary oceans at ranges of distances more diverse from the host star, the expected number of habitable stars in the galaxy has seen a significant increase. The Cassini spacecraft, which is responsible for studying Saturn and its properties, discovered and studied samples of liquid water containing dissolved phosphorous on Enceladus, caused by fractures in the icy surface of the star.

Based on data obtained by Cassini, the researchers performed thermodynamic and kinetic modeling that simulates the geochemistry of phosphorous at the ocean floor on Enceladus. From this study, they developed a comprehensive geochemical model of mineral dissolution and predicted that phosphate minerals would be particularly soluble there.

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