Phosphorus, a crucial chemical component for life, has been discovered on Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons.

Scientists have detected phosphorus in the salty ice grains that are released into space through plumes erupting from the cracks in Enceladus’ icy shell, CNN reported.

Enceladus harbors an ocean beneath its thick icy surface, and material from these geysers regularly escapes and becomes part of Saturn’s outermost E ring.

The findings are based on data collected during NASA’s Cassini mission, which extensively studied Saturn and its moons from 2004 to 2017.

Cassini’s Cosmic Dust Analyzer, during its numerous flybys through the plumes of Enceladus and Saturn’s E ring, identified minerals and organic compounds essential for life.

Previous analyses by Cassini had already detected the presence of sodium, potassium, chlorine, and carbonate compounds in the ice grains collected.

Now, the discovery of phosphorus can be added to the growing list of important elements. The research detailing these findings was published in the journal Nature on Wednesday.

Written by staff