To find life, scientists will want to take a good look at Saturn’s moons. Image: NASA. 10 Add a Dash of Earth About two tons of Saturn’s mass came from Earth—the Cassini spacecraft was intentionally vaporized in Saturn’s atmosphere in 2017. Hydrocarbons have even been detected across the surface of Saturn’s moon Hyperion. There might not be life on Saturn, but there are enough intriguing locations to explore around the ringed planet to keep astronomers busy for years. It’s not completely impossible that we’ll find life on Saturn—it’s never completely impossible—but if we do, it won’t be life as we’ve come to understand it. Is there life on Saturn’s moon? Posted by Daniela Breitman in Space | April 15, 2017 A form of chemical energy that can support life appears to exist on Saturn’s moon Enceladus. https://www.amazon.com/Universe-Today-Ultimate-Viewing-Cosmos/dp/1624145442/, Audio Podcast version: Karla Thompson – @karlaii / https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEItkORQYd4Wf0TpgYI_1fw Based on what we’ve seen from the Cassini probe in flybys from 2008 to 2015, we know that this tiny moon has a liquid water ocean under a surface crust of ice. It’s just extremely unlikely. Follow us on Twitter: @universetoday Is there life on Saturn’s moons? 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Here’s an … Contrary to conventional wisdom, we now know that they’re about the same age as Saturn: 4.5 billion years old, plenty of time for an ecosystem to evolve. The first is Episode 59: Saturn, and the second is Episode 61: Saturn’s Moons. They even harbor a considerable amount of water ice. And More…, Episode 694: Interview: Fred Watson, Australia's Astronomer at Large, Episode 693: Open Space 92: Why I Hate Embargoed News Stories, and More…, Episode 692: Open Space 91: Any Updates on Venus? Twitch: https://twitch.tv/fcain And More…, Episode 698: Open Space 95: Would SpaceX Have Survived without NASA? It’s possible that it has vast reserves of superheated water beneath an ice crust. Jupiter is the only planet in our solar system that is larger than Saturn. As saturn’s grasp strengthens and weakens, it massages this cold, rocky heart, bringing it to geological life with frictional heat. Rather, it is a frigid world full of surprise and treachery. And, like the other gaseous planets, you technically could not live on Saturn, simply because it has no solid surfaces. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbJ42wpShvmkjd428BcHcCEVWOjv7cJ1G, Weekly email newsletter: Could Enceladus, this icy moon of Saturn harbor life inside? Confronting the brute fact of life on a theoretically inhospitable environment, such as Saturn, would be tremendously exciting in part because it would be so improbable, so hard to explain according to our current understanding of things. It’s hard to imagine a planet less hospitable for life than Saturn. Temperatures do get warmer as you descend into Saturn’s atmosphere, but the pressures increase too. In September 2017, NASA’s spacecraft Cassini took its final plunge into Saturn’s atmosphere after an impressive 20 years in space. Answer and Explanation: There is no evidence, at this point, of life on Saturn itself, however, scientists suspect that there may be life on two of the planet's moons, Enceladus and Titan. There are five planets between Saturn and then sun (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and Jupiter). And More…, Episode 695: Q&A 130: Does the Dark Forest Explain the Fermi Paradox? Others think it may be leftover debris from the original formation of our solar system’s planets over four billion years ago. Get the MegaPack collection now for this great price. This is an article from the Guardian about the possibility of life on Enceladus, and hydrocarbons on Hyperion. The planet is comprised almost entirely hydrogen and helium, with only trace amounts of water ice in its lower cloud deck. Prior to its heroic demise, the Cassini-Huygens mission was responsible for acquiring 635 gigabytes of data about Saturn and its moons, which contributed to over 4,000 published scientific papers. Chad Weber – [email protected], Support Universe Today podcasts with Fraser Cain. Some think a series of asteroid collisions with Saturn’s Moons caused leftover debris to be trapped in orbit. Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/universetoday RSS: https://www.universetoday.com/audio, What Fraser's Watching Playlist: Interiors of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune compared. And More…, Episode 697: Interview: Theoretical Physicist Dr. Peter Woit, Episode 696: Open Space 94: Is It Realistic to Declare a "Free Mars"? The potential for that excitement is, of course, no substitute for evidence. Here’s an article about exotic life that could live on Titan, and another that dismisses the possibility that there’s life on Enceladus. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUHI67dh9jEO2rvK–MdCSg, Support us at: https://www.patreon.com/universetoday But, let’s put that idea aside, assume that we are equipped with technologies needed to survive, and inspect your new home. Copyright © Mysterious Universe. is there life on saturn? Publish Date: 8/27/14 Topic: Space + Flight Space & Flight Nova The Guide to Space is a series of space and astronomy poddcasts by Fraser Cain, publisher of Universe Today, Episode 700: Interview: Wallace Arthur and the Biological Universe. Confronting the brute fact of life on a theoretically inhospitable environment, such as Saturn, would be tremendously exciting in part because it would be so improbable, so hard to explain according to our current understanding of things. Saturn's moon, Titan. Wallace Arthur is an evolutionary biologist and emeritus professor of Zoology at the National University of Ireland, Galway. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. They’re comprised of significant amounts of water ice, and their gravitational interaction with Saturn probably keeps their interiors warm. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. This water jets out through huge cracks in the surface ice. There might not be life on Saturn, but there are enough intriguing locations to explore around the ringed planet to keep astronomers busy for years. Saturn’s moon Enceladus is known to have geysers of water erupting from its southern pole. However, living on Saturn is not as glitzy and glamorous as it may seem. There are several theories as to how your planet’s flagship landmark came to be. The trouble is temperature; the warmest of Saturn’s ring matter is -261°F/ -127°C, well below freezing. Instagram – https://instagram.com/universetoday, Team: Fraser Cain – @fcain / [email protected] But what about Saturn’s beautiful and distinctive rings—the largest in the solar system? Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Mysterious Universe is a property of 8th Kind Pty Ltd, Karahan Tepe is Probably Older than Gobekli Tepe, The Strange Case of Daniel Ledger and his World War II Alien Encounters, The Three “Things” That Got Me Involved in the World of the Weird, Mysterious Mass Grave Unearthed in The Netherlands, Russian Billionaire to Fund Trip to Saturnian Moon Enceladus, Scientists Discover Life Forms Powered by Electricity, Astronauts Exposed to Excessive Radiation in Deep Space. Scientists discover evidence for the key ingredients for life on Saturn's moon Enceladus. https://www.universetoday.com/newsletter, Weekly Space Hangout: Is There Life on Enceladus? It’s hard to imagine a planet less hospitable for life than Saturn. When temperatures are warm enough to have liquid water, the pressure of the atmosphere is the same as several kilometers beneath the ocean on Earth. Exobiologists looking for extraterrestrial life focus on Saturn’s moon Enceladus, which is almost certainly the best candidate in our solar system, but it isn’t completely impossible that the planet Saturn itself may harbor life. It is so big that you would need to set up close to ten planet Earths side by side to cross the diameter of the planet. We have recorded two episodes of Astronomy Cast just about Saturn. Join our 836 patrons! His newest book is called the Biological Universe, and features the search for life in the Milky Way and Beyond. It’s not completely impossible that we’ll find life on Saturn—it’s never completely impossible—but if we do, it won’t be life as we’ve come to understand it.