The possibility of detecting life (albeit microbial) on the planets and satellites of the solar system has been talked about for a long time. Some scientists believe that life is rather a rule, others are an exception, a very rare phenomenon not only for the solar system, but also for the observable part of the Universe.
Many experts who consider possible the existence of extraterrestrial life, believe that the probability of its detection is high enough for the planets and their satellites, where there is liquid water. The thing is that the basis of life forms known to science is water. That is why scientists are paying close attention to finding life where there is water in liquid form.
Relatively recently, astronomers have found out that water is not only in the form of ice, but also liquid, is found in the solar system quite often.
An indirect sign of the existence of life in our system — on the Saturn’s satellite Enceladus —
was recently
discovered . We are talking about complex chemical compounds, which may well be "traces of life."
As is known, Enceladus is one of the moons of Saturn. Its diameter is about 500 km. Planetoid began to actively study after 2004. It was then that the Cassini interplanetary station detected the release of liquid water from under the icy mass. Geysers, as it turned out, reached a height of 250 kilometers and above.
They became evidence that Enceladus has a whole ocean of liquid water. A little later, scientists decided to look for signs of the existence of life. How? By detecting complex organic compounds. In some cases
, Cassini
passed through a suspension left by geysers, which allowed for the analysis of this material.
In particular, we managed to find out the acidity of ocean water. As it turned out, the water is very alkaline, contains a large amount of dissolved chemical compounds. As for the thickness of the ice, the experts took as a basis the value of 18-22 kilometers. Then the calculations were revised: the scientists decided that at the poles the ice could be much thinner - from 2 to 5 kilometers. According to planetologists, Enceladus says a lot about the presence of active geothermal processes on the ocean floor.
“Cassini”, flying over Enceladus, collected a large amount of information, which was gradually transmitted to Earth. There was a lot of data, so they were not studied immediately after arrival on our planet. Recently, a group of scientists from the University of Heidbelberg University
published the results of data analysis, which were collected by CDA (Cosmic Dust Analyzer) and INMS (Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer) tools. They were part of the scientific toolkit of the probe. Instruments were used in moving the Cassini through discharges of water from the planetoid’s icy crust.
In principle, Cassini flew through the geysers repeatedly, but usually the analysis of the substance obtained showed a variety of inorganic substances and a small amount of organic substances — albeit very simple ones. The molecular masses of such substances did not exceed 50. Now the situation has changed - experts report the discovery of large organic molecules with masses of about 200 atomic mass units. Large organic molecules can be formed only during complex chemical processes.
Most likely , organic matter accumulates on the surface of the under-ice ocean in the form of the thinnest film. Here, in the surface layer, continue to go complex chemical reactions.
The main components of such chemical compounds are hydrogen, carbon, oxygen and nitrogen. C6H5 + and C6H7 +, CH2NH2 +, CH2OH +, CH3CHOH + were detected during the spectral analysis. According to scientists, the organic content of ice particles is quite large and may exceed 1% of the total mass. By the way, terrestrial bacteria can perfectly exist on Enceladus.
Actually, scientists can only argue about the existence of life on Enceladus - nobody knows the truth yet. Perhaps in the future an unmanned expedition will be sent to the satellite of Saturn. And then everything will become clearer, since it is not so easy to manage the tools of the expedition.
Most likely, Enceladus is not the only “water planetoid” in the solar system. It is highly likely that water exists in liquid form on such planets and planetoids as Europe, Callisto and Ganymede, Dione and Titan, Tritone and the dwarf planet Ceres.