Study Indicates Presence of Phosphorus on Saturn's Moon Enceladus

NEW DELHI: One of Saturn's moons, Enceladus, has phosphorous in its water, an essential component for life as we know it, according to a recent research. Data from NASA's Cassini probe, which examined the Saturn system from 2004 to 2017, were analysed to make the discovery.

Taking on twitter, NASA informed that, “Enceladus, Saturn's icy moon, is known for its geysers that erupt with water from a subsurface ocean.

Scientists have just detected phosphorus—an uncommon element that's a key building block for life—in the plumes that these geysers spray.”

A multinational team led by planetary scientist Frank Postberg of the Free University of Berlin in Germany detected phosphorous-containing compounds in vapour emitted by Saturn's ocean moon Enceladus, the Solar System entity with the highest ratio of liquid water by mass. According to the numbers discovered, there may be abundances that are more than 100 times greater than those on Earth.

The operation of cell membranes, the construction of DNA, and the storage of energy in living things all depend on phosphorus. In addition, it is the least common of the six elements—carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulphur—that are thought to be essential for life.

In order to understand ocean worlds within the Solar System and beyond, we now have a fresh piece of information. Additionally, the discovery of phosphorus considerably improves the chances of life on Enceladus because it is one of the six elements that are thought to be essential important for life based on organic chemistry and water.

One of our solar system's most optimistic prospects for discovering extraterrestrial life is Enceladus. Its ocean has been demonstrated in the past to contain organic substances, amino acids, and other elements necessary for life. Phosphorus, however, was up to this point the puzzle's unsolved mystery.

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