astronaut, cassini, enceladus, new discoveries, outer space, phosphates

Astronomers Have Found Life-Supporting Molecules Called Phosphates on Enceladus

The search for habitable conditions beyond Earth has just become more interesting with the discovery on Saturn’s moon Enceladus of biologically available phosphorus. Phosphorus is the most elusive of the six crucial elements needed for life. In research published in Nature, data from the Cassini spacecraft were used to find phosphorus compounds called phosphates in ...

Troy Oakes

Saturn's moon Enceladus.

Is There Life on Saturn’s Icy Moon Enceladus?

Surrounded by a vast ocean underneath a thick ice shell, Enceladus is a hot candidate for potentially harboring alien life. A team of researchers led by the University of Arizona concluded that a future mission could provide answers even without landing on the tiny world. The mystery of whether microbial alien life might inhabit Enceladus, ...

Troy Oakes

Plumes erupting from Enceladus.

Infrared Eyes on Enceladus: Hints of Fresh Ice in Northern Hemisphere

New composite images made by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft are the most detailed global infrared views ever produced of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. And data used to build those images provides strong evidence that the northern hemisphere of the moon has been resurfaced with ice from its interior. Cassini’s Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) collected light ...

Troy Oakes

Jupiters's icy moon Enceladus .

Listen to Saturn: Radio Emissions of the Planet and Enceladus

New research from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft’s up-close Grand Finale orbits shows a surprisingly powerful and dynamic interaction of plasma waves moving from Saturn to its rings and its moon Enceladus. The observations show for the first time that the waves travel on magnetic field lines connecting the planet directly to Enceladus. The field lines are ...

Troy Oakes

Saturn and its moon enceladus.