CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Scientists have uncovered new types of organics in icy geysers spouting from Saturn\u2019s moon Enceladus, bolstering the likelihood that the ocean world may harbor conditions suitable for life.<\/p>\n
Their findings, reported Wednesday, are based on observations made by NASA\u2019s Cassini spacecraft in 2008 during a close and fast flyby of Enceladus. The small moon, one of 274 orbiting Saturn, has long been considered a prime candidate in the search for life beyond Earth because of its hidden ocean and plumes of water erupting from cracks near its south pole.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: The Bennu asteroid reveals clues to how the building blocks of life on Earth may have been seeded<\/a><\/p>\n While Enceladus may be habitable, no one is suggesting that life exists.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing habitable and being inhabited are two very different things. We believe that Enceladus is habitable, but we do not know if life is indeed present,\u201d said the University of Washington\u2019s Fabian Klenner, who took part in the study.<\/p>\n An international team decided to launch a fresh analysis of tiny grains of ice encountered as Cassini flew through the moon\u2019s geysers. The grains were young compared with the much older geyser particles that ended up in one of Saturn\u2019s outermost rings.<\/p>\n These new grains collided with Cassini\u2019s cosmic dust analyzer at 40,000 mph (64,800 kph), faster than the old ones. The increased speed provided a clearer view of the chemical compounds present, the scientists noted.<\/p>\n Organic molecules already had been spotted in the old geyser grains, but their age raised questions as to whether they had been altered over the years by space radiation.<\/p>\n Scientists found some of the same molecules in the fresh grains, confirming they came from the moon\u2019s underground sea, as well as new chemical compounds. The findings were published in Nature Astronomy.<\/p>\n An ice-encapsulated water world barely 310 miles (500 kilometers) across with a rocky core, Enceladus is suspected of having hydrothermal vents on its ocean floor, quite possibly like those in the Arctic. The moon\u2019s jets of water vapor and frozen particles can stretch thousands of miles (kilometers) into space.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are confident that these molecules originate from the subsurface ocean of Enceladus, enhancing its habitability potential,\u201d the Free University of Berlin\u2019s Nozair Khawaja, the lead author, said in an email.<\/p>\n