Ingredient for life detected in icy plume from Saturn’s moon Enceladus
First discovery of phosphorus in an ocean beyond Earth reveals that the bio-essential element may be abundant on the moon
Scientists have discovered phosphates in ice grains from Saturn’s frozen moon Enceladus, dramatically raising chances that the liquid ocean beneath its crust might harbour extraterrestrial life.
A new study, led by planetary scientist Frank Postberg at the Free University of Berlin, describes the detection of sodium phosphates in salt-rich ice grains sampled by the Cassini space probe, which explored the Saturn system from 2004 until 2017.