WHAT IS ENCELADUS AND COULD IT HOST ALIEN LIFE?
Enceladus (pictured) is Saturn's sixth largest moon, at 313 miles wide (504 kilometres)
Enceladus is Saturn's sixth largest moon, at 313 miles wide (504 kilometres).
It is an icy satellite with hydrothermal activity - a rare combination - with vents spewing water vapour and ice particles out from a global ocean buried beneath the moon's frozen crust.
A handful of worlds are thought to have liquid water oceans beneath their frozen shell, but only Enceladus sprays its ocean out into space, where a spacecraft can sample it.
According to Nasa observations, the plume includes organic compounds, volatile gases, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, salts, and silica.
Microbes on our planet either produce these compounds or use them for growth, leading some to speculate that tiny organisms live in Enceladus's hidden ocean.
This means that while Enceladus may look 'inhospitable' like Saturn's other moons, it is a prime candidate in our search for alien life.
Read articles that feature this panel
How Saturn's moon got its 'tiger stripes': Scientists reveal the strange physics of the Ringed Planet's gravity changes with the moon's...
Experts found Enceladus' tiger stripes formed on the south pole because this area happened to split open first. The fissures stay open and...
Saturn's ice moon Enceladus is spouting organic compounds which could be the building blocks for life
Experts led from the Free University of Berlin analysed data collected by the Cassini spacecraft on the ice grains that are emitted from...
Saturn's moon Encaladus could provide a 'free lunch' to aliens as scientists probe if the ocean-covered world could ever sustain life
Researchers from the University of Washington have found that the subsurface ocean of Saturn's moon Enceladus has higher than normal levels...
Saturn's eerie song: Scientists reveal the spooky sounds emitted by the strange bond between the gas giant and its moon Enceladus
Experts at Iowa University used the the Cassini space probe to uncover a powerful and constantly changing interaction between Saturn...
Our best hope for finding aliens? Saturn's moon Enceladus is the only known celestial body other than Earth with ALL the ingredients needed...
Saturn's moon Enceladus pumps organic molecules from its liquid subsurface ocean, an analysis led by scientists at the Southwest Research...
There may be alien life in our solar system: Microbes similar to those on Earth can thrive in the underground ocean on Saturn's icy moon...
Scientists at Vienna University found species of methane-producing microbes on Earth that could survive the harsh conditions on Enceladus.
Billionaire Yuri Milner working with NASA on private mission to hunt for alien life on Saturn's moon Enceladus
Milner hopes to for life on Saturn's moon Enceladus, which many experts believe is the most likely place in the universe to contain alien...
Most watched News videos
- New video shows Epstein laughing and chasing young women
- British Airways passengers turn flight into a church service
- Epstein describes himself as a 'tier one' sexual predator
- Two schoolboys plummet out the window of a moving bus
- Skier dressed as Chewbacca brutally beaten in mass brawl
- Police dog catches bag thief who pushed woman to the floor
- Melinda Gates says Bill Gates must answer questions about Epstein
- JD Vance turns up heat on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
- Buddhist monks in Thailand caught with a stash of porn
- China unveils 'Star Wars' warship that can deploy unmanned jets
- Trump slams Kaitlan Collins for lack of smiling over Epstein grilling
- 911 call on Nancy Guthrie's disappearance released
