The planet Saturn is again the scene of an important discovery made for mankind, and this is because scientists have observed something that did not seem possible, but which in the end could prove to be an important first for mankind. More precisely, many years ago, NASA's Cassini spacecraft flew over the surface of the moon Enceladus, which belongs to the planet Saturn, observing a series of gases removed from the surface of the planet towards the universe.
The planet Saturn has several moons in its orbit, but when it comes to Enceladus, scientists are of the opinion that those gas emissions, including methane, could be a possible proof of the existence of life on the moon. The Cassini spacecraft has detected large traces of methane gas among the gases expelled by the moon Enceladus near the planet Saturn, and this has convinced scientists to look more closely at what is happening there.
Planet Saturn: INCREDIBLE Discovery, Surprised Researchers
The planet Saturn has not yet revealed that it could hide traces of life under its atmosphere, but the moon Enceladus could have life forms under the surface due to the large amounts of methane gas eliminated in outer space, or at least that's what researchers think. Of course, there are many biological processes that are capable of producing methane including on Earth, so the discovery on the planet Saturn would not necessarily be related to life, but scientists consider it a great possibility.
"We wanted to know: Could earth-like microbes that 'eat' dihydrogen and produce methane explain the surprisingly large amount of methane detected by Cassini? Searching for such microbes, known as methanogens, at the bottom of Enceladus' sea would require extremely challenging diving missions that have not been seen for several decades. Obviously, we do not conclude that life exists in Enceladus' ocean. And biological methanogenesis seems to be compatible with the data. In other words, we cannot dismiss the "life hypothesis" as highly improbable. To reject the hypothesis of life, we need more data from future missions.”
The planet Saturn has one of the most active moons in its orbit, Enceladus, and scientists believe that beneath its surface there are vast oceans, some frozen, in which various forms of life could hide. Of course, additional explorations are needed to be able to discover if there really are possible forms of life on the moon Enceladus near the planet Saturn, so it remains to be seen what the future space probes sent there will discover.
The planet Saturn will have its moons explored in the next decade by at least one space probe, so there are many questions of scientists waiting for answers in the coming years, but it remains to be seen if they will come.
