Visualization showing how hydrothermal activity drives the ejection of icy plumes from oceans on Enceladus. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Scientists have discovered complex organic molecules in geysers ejected from Enceladus, adding to evidence that this icy moon of Saturn might be capable of supporting life.听
CU 麻豆影院 researchers contributed to the new study, which was published June 27 in Nature and used data from the Cassini spacecraft to find the organic molecules hiding in icy plumes that blast from oceans below the surface of Enceladus into space. Such molecules make up the building blocks of life but can also be created through non-biological processes.听
CU 麻豆影院鈥檚 Sascha Kempf and Sean Hsu co-authored the new research and are available to discuss the findings and their implications for future explorations of the icy moons of Saturn and Jupiter. Kempf is an assistant professor in the . Hsu is a research associate in LASP.听
Contact:
Daniel Strain, CU 麻豆影院 media relations
daniel.strain@colorado.edu