Enceladus – Page 4 – Astronomy Now

Comet impacts may have led to life on Earth — and perhaps elsewhere

19 August 2015 Astronomy Now

Comet impacts on Earth are synonymous with great extinctions, but now research presented at the Goldschmidt geochemistry conference in Prague shows that early comet collisions would have become a driving force to cause substantial synthesis of peptides — the first building blocks of life. This may have implications for the genesis of life on other worlds.

Geochemical process on Saturn’s moon Enceladus linked to life’s origin

7 May 2015 Astronomy Now

Researchers have revealed the pH of water spewing from geyser-like plumes on Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Their findings are an important step toward determining whether life could exist, or could have previously existed, on the sixth planet’s sixth-largest moon.

Diverse destinations considered for new interplanetary probe

12 April 2015 Stephen Clark

Science teams from across the United States have submitted 28 proposals for missions to explore the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, touch the asteroid-like satellites orbiting Mars, visit unseen worlds and hunt for objects that could strike Earth one day.

Hydrothermal activity in subsurface ocean of Saturn’s moon Enceladus

12 March 2015 Astronomy Now

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft finds the first evidence of active hot-water chemistry beyond planet Earth on Saturn’s ocean moon Enceladus — results that have important implications for the habitability of icy worlds.