Scientists finds cold, icy Saturn moon could harbor life

Astrobiologists have been searching the solar system for years, looking for environments that could support life or where it may have existed in the past.

The moon always seems cold and icy, but new research from NASA's Cassini mission has found the opposite.

As the hunt continues, scientists find that another surface that could support life could be the icy moons of the outer planets in the Solar System.

A team of scientists from Oxford University, the Southwest Research Institute, and the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, has uncovered that one of Saturn’s moons, Enceladus, may also possess an environment favorable to life.

Scientists have found that Enceladus, with a diameter of 500 km, is Saturn's sixth-largest moon.

According to Science Daily, researchers informed that Enceladus is far more thermally active than previously thought, indicating that it generates and releases much more heat than any frozen or dormant moon.

The sixth Saturn moon is geologically active, with a salty ocean hidden beneath its icy surface, where temperatures reach as low as –201°C, thanks to enough heat to support a large ocean.

According to geologists, that heat comes from tidal heating, where the moon is squeezed and stretched by Saturn's gravity.

The ocean beneath the moon is the primary source of the moon's internal heat because it contains liquid water, warmth, and essential chemical ingredients such as phosphorus and complex hydrocarbons.

As reported, the study reveals that the underground sea is among the most promising environments in the solar system for life beyond Earth.

The co-author of the study, Dr. Carly Howett from the University of Oxford, said, “We think life needs stability to survive, and by showing that Enceladus’ energy is stable, it means that the subsurface environment is likely to be just as stable.”