Friday, June 16, 2023

Life on...Enceladus?

 Thanks to 2001, we focus on Europa. But Enceladus is a very similar world.

And we know there's potentially water under the ice. There's energy (hydrothermal activity driven by tidal forces).

There's organic compounds.

And there's phosphorus. Substantial amounts of it. Phosphorus is essential for our type of life. It's never before been found off of Earth. It's used to make DNA. Yes, it's probably possible to have life without phosphorus. But it would be exotic indeed.

There's actually more phosphorus than on Earth, however, which might initially seem like good news...except that that may mean there isn't life because all the phosphorus here is in use, as it were.

What it does mean is that phosphorus is out there...

Enceladus is, in fact, habitable in the broadest sense.

To answer the next question will take a new mission.

Is it inhabited?

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