New research coming out has revealed that there are hot springs below the icy surface of Enceladus, Saturn's sixth largest moon. If this is confirmed then the moon Enceladus will become the only body in the solar system other than Earth where the existence of hot water and rocks takes place. Since scientists have found various life forms on the oceanic bed outside the reach of sunlight, the hot springs on the Enceladus could support the theory of alien life.
Enceladus is the six largest moon of Saturn and has a diameter of 314 miles (505kms). It was discovered in 1789. The new research about the presence of geothermal activity in Enceladus comes from the NASA-European probe Cassini. Previously it has sent data suggesting the presence of vast ocean under the crust and giant clouds of gas and ice steaming from the cracks of Enceladus. The new discovery of hot springs will add weight to the theory of hydrothermal activity on Enceladus.
A team led by Cassini member Sean Hsu the University of Colorado in Boulder used the data obtained from Cassini and modeled it with the help of a computer and suggested that the plume is connected to occurrence at the base. Presently the NASA's Cassini spacecraft has marked a six-mile-deep saltwater ocean in the south of Enceladus.
According to Hsu, Enceladus has a hot and porous core that heats the water in the ocean to a temperature of 90 degree Celsius.
"It is the existence of high-temperature rock-water reactions at the present time that surprises me the most, as we would expect Enceladus to be a frozen world," said Hsu. "It means that there is still a big knowledge gap in understanding how solar system bodies evolve."
Since these vents are similar to the life-harboring hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor present on Earth, questions arise whether Enceladus contained life.
"A hydrothermal system like this could fulfill the basic criteria to have life: that is energy, nutrients and liquid water. But we don't know if the water was warm enough for long enough. If the temperature wasn't stable, life may not have happened there" Hsu told the Guardian.
"There is no guarantee. But the chances to find life are surely much better with active hydrothermal systems" he added.
