An icy moon in our own solar system could support life, according to new findings.
Enceladus – a tiny snowball that orbits around Saturn – might contain under its icy shell an entire ecosystem, scientists have suggested.
That’s after new findings that detected molecular hydrogen coming from the moon, meaning that it is more geologically alive than previously thought. And that detection signals that conditions to support life could exist on Enceladus.
“We know that the ingredients for life are water, organic molecules and energy,” says Caitriona Jackman, a space environment lecturer, from the University of Southampton. “We’ve seen evidence of water and chemical elements before, but we really have’t had direct evidence of the energy sources that are capable of fuelling life.”
“That’s what’s very significant here: this molecular hydrogen is a direct observation of an energetic process that is potentially capable of fuelling life.”
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