The search for extrasolar planets and potential for alien life is one of the hottest topics in modern science. As such, I thought it would be interesting to discuss the place that some scientists say is most likely to alien host life.
Enceladus seems to be at the top of everyone’s list for alien host planets. This small moon of Saturn is called the most promising bet for life for several reasons. Its surface is icy, but scientists believe there may be water beneath the surface ice. Also, the moon seems to have a boiling core of molten rock, helping to heat the moon to warmer temperatures that can help give rise to life. The most attractive characteristic of Enceladus is the geysers of frozen water spewing from its southern hemisphere. If there is life on Enceladus, these geysers may be continuously gushing life into space, making it easier for scientists to grab potential samples.
Awesome post here! I didn’t really know much about Enceladus, but when I searched it up online, I came across a great article all about Enceladus. It describes many of the physical characteristics of Enceladus and also explains how if one researcher were given billions of dollars, he would make a probe to go to Enceladus first, rather than Mars or the moons of Jupiter, because if life were to exist on Enceladus, it would most likely be found on the surface and not hidden down underneath like it would be on Mars or on moons like Europa. Another interesting fact that I came across was that the existence of the “E ring” on Saturn is actually due to the geysers of Enceladus. The water that these geysers spit out actually turn into ice crystals and then form the E-ring. If the geysers stopped spewing, then the E-ring would disappear in a few years. Enceladus is also the only other body of mass with liquid water on the surface, which is pretty remarkable. More about Enceladus can be found in the link below, but other than that, thanks for helping me find out about Enceladus. Great post once again.
For more information: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/jul/29/alien-life-enceladus-saturn-moon
All of the features of Enceladus make it seem promising for life out of the worlds that we are aware of, which is really exciting! Life is very adaptable and can survive in some crazy conditions (like the extremophiles on Earth) but it seems that the limiting factor is is the lack of water. Luckily, Enceladus does not seem to have that problem. It’s really cool that the geysers eject frozen water into space; it might make life easier to find. Even if we end up not finding life on Enceladus, it might let us know that life may be harder to form than we think!