Life in the Solar System - Enceladus

While Voyager 2 was able to provide just low resolution images of Enceladus, stirring up interest, the Cassini mission has revealed that this moon of Saturn is still very active geologically, with geysers shooting water vapors hundreds of miles into the air, similar to the geysers in Yellowstone. Saturn’s gravity creates frictional heat, generating the evaporation of the water ice on Enceladus, creating the geysers. The gases coming through the surface are made of carbon and nitrogen, all sufficient to sustain primitive life. Organic compounds and possibly underground channels of water seem to fulfill the requisites for life. [1] On Earth, microorganisms consuming hydrogen and carbon dioxide, and releasing methane thrive in subsurface volcanic strata where liquid water is present, and take their energy from the planet’s internal heat. Therefore Enceladus seems to be the holy grail of the search for life. [2]

Whether habitable by human understanding or not, exploring only a few celestial bodies in the solar system can forever change human belief about life in the universe. Life could be everywhere, from microorganisms living beneath the surface of Mars and in thermal vents on Enceladus, and creatures developed around other element than carbon that may be living in the methane lakes of Titan, to possibly more complex life forms living in the oceans hidden beneath the surface of Europa. One could be pessimistic and claim that since no life has been seen anywhere else, it is likely that it does not exist. However, the scientists must stay optimistic, as the scientific method requires a hypothesis so that any idea could develop further. Hypothesizing that life may be present on these celestial bodies has at least generated research benefic for the understanding of life’s origin on Earth.

Life may be everywhere, but it is also possible that no evidence of life will turn up. However, if life can come into existence as easily as it seems to have taken shape on Earth, it has to also develop in some other corners of the solar system. Either way, the search for life will provide the ultimate insight into whether life is rare or widespread, and this will be a decisive point in human understanding of the universe.

Notes

[1] Porco, Carolyn. "The Restless World of Enceladus. (Cover story)." Scientific American 299, no. 6 (December 2008): 52-63. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed October 12, 2011), 52.

2 Ibid, 63.