The orbiting Cassini probe has taken his-res photos of “icy jets and giant water vapor plumes from geysers resembling frozen Old Faithfuls” on one of Saturn’s moons, Enceladus.
“We have the smoking gun” that proves the existence of water, said Carolyn Porco, a Cassini imaging scientist from the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado. If Enceladus does harbor life, it probably consists of microbes or other primitive organisms capable of living in extreme conditions, scientists say.
The findings were published in Friday’s issue of the journal Science.
David Morrison, a senior scientist at NASA’s Astrobiology Institute, cautioned against rushing to judgment about whether the tiny moon could support life. Scientists generally agree habitats need several ingredients for life to emerge, including water, a stable heat source and the right chemical recipe.
