Methane found on Saturn's moon indicates possibility of life: Study

After 16 years of  NASA's Cassini probe found ice and methane on one of Saturn’s 82 moons, Enceladus, another theory of having an abundant amount of methane gas, raises questions over the existence of life on the 'Ringed Planet'. In  2005, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)-- an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and space research-- had sent Cassini spacecraft in 2005 which revealed the existence of methane rivers and a methane sea under the plums of the Saturn. Since then, it always maintains a puzzle 'whether life is possible or not'.

Is life possible on Saturn's moon?

Now, it has found methane along with compounds like dihydrogen (H2) and carbon dioxide. These compounds are typically found on Earth's ocean floors as hydrothermal vents. Usually, methane is produced by humans and animals, when they digest food. Another factor also lies in which it is said that when bacteria eat and decompose organic matter, it produces methane. Scientists also stated that geochemical processes also contribute to methane.

What scientists say about life on Saturn

However, it is to be noted that their contribution is very low. When asked about the possibility of life on the ring planet, one of the lead authors of the study Regis Ferriere, of the University of Arizona, said, "Obviously, we are not concluding that life exists in Enceladus’ ocean. Rather, we wanted to understand how likely it would be that Enceladus’ hydrothermal vents could be habitable to Earthlike microorganisms."

An intense plume of methane gas was detected in 2009 which was observed by both the telescopes installed on Earth as well as the spacecraft orbiting Mars. As the sun’s heat will warm up the Red planet’s soil, there is a possibility that the highest methane levels do appear and help scientists unveil more about the methane’s ultimate source. 

The researcher noted that if hypothetical geochemical processes are to believe, biotic processes (that deal with living organisms) could be responsible, which is significant in itself. "It is a challenging task to search microbes, known as methanogens, at Enceladus' seafloor. It would require extremely challenging deep-dive missions that are not in sight for several decades," noted the researcher.