All articles tagged with #potential life
NASA's analysis of data from the Cassini spacecraft reveals that Saturn's moon Enceladus is emitting heat from both its north and south poles, indicating a stable, long-lasting underground ocean that could support life, with implications for future exploration.
Recent analysis of data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft provides stronger evidence that Saturn's moon Enceladus has a subsurface ocean containing complex organic molecules, making it a promising candidate in the search for extraterrestrial life, although no direct signs of life have been found yet.
NASA's Perseverance rover found mineral and organic signatures in Martian rocks that could be remnants of ancient microbial life, marking the closest evidence yet of potential past life on Mars, though further analysis is needed to confirm this.
NASA's Dawn mission revealed that Ceres, the largest object in the Asteroid Belt, may have supported single-celled life 2.5 to 4 billion years ago due to a once-active subsurface water reservoir heated by radioactive decay, although it likely no longer has an internal ocean today.
NASA's Cassini spacecraft revealed that the ocean beneath Saturn's moon Enceladus has a highly alkaline pH between 10.1 and 11.6, making it potentially habitable despite challenging conditions for life, with the presence of minerals and molecules that could support microbial life, especially near the seafloor.
New research suggests that Uranus and its moons may have hidden oceans and the potential to support life, challenging previous perceptions influenced by Voyager 2's encounter during a solar storm. This revelation, published in Nature Astronomy, highlights the importance of re-examining old data and has prompted NASA to plan a return mission to Uranus, aiming to explore these possibilities further by 2045.
NASA's James Webb telescope has discovered a possible rare water ocean on a giant exoplanet called K2-18 b, located 120 light years away in the constellation Leo. The planet, almost nine times the mass of Earth, is classified as a Hycean exoplanet, with the potential for a hydrogen-rich atmosphere and a water ocean-covered surface. NASA's observations of the planet's atmosphere suggest the presence of an ocean world, and the potential finding of a molecule called dimethyl sulfide (DMS) could indicate the existence of life. Further investigation is needed to confirm the presence of DMS. While the discovery does not guarantee the planet's ability to support life, it highlights the importance of considering diverse habitable environments in the search for extraterrestrial life.
Scientists from Southwest Research Institute have found more indications of possible life on Enceladus, a moon of Saturn. Observations using the James Webb Space Telescope have strengthened suspicions that the moon could support life due to its stable environment and the presence of a massive plume of water vapor that feeds the water supply for Saturn and its moons. The team plans to search for specific indicators of habitability, such as organic compounds, in future observations. NASA's Webb telescope will serve as the primary observation tool for Enceladus.
Two upcoming missions, JUICE and Europa Clipper, are set to explore Jupiter's moons, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, which are believed to have large underground oceans of liquid water that could potentially support life. The spacecraft will carry scientific instruments to investigate the oceans, including radar to probe into the moons' outer layers of solid ice, magnetometers to study the secondary magnetic fields produced by the interaction of conductive oceans with Jupiter's field, and cameras to provide unprecedented images of the moons' icy surfaces.