国产精品99一区二区三_免费中文日韩_国产在线精品一区二区_日本成人手机在线

Evidence of complex organic molecules from Saturn's moon found

Source: Xinhua| 2018-06-28 01:57:35|Editor: zh
Video PlayerClose

WASHINGTON, June 27 (Xinhua) -- American scientists found large carbon-rich organic molecules ejected from cracks in the icy surface of Saturn's moon Enceladus.

With complex organic molecules emanating from its liquid water ocean, this moon is the only body besides Earth known to simultaneously satisfy all of the basic requirements for life as people know, according to a study published on Wednesday in the journal Nature.

"Previously we'd only identified the simplest organic molecules containing a few carbon atoms," said Christopher Glein, a space scientist specializing in extraterrestrial chemical oceanography at Southwest Research Institute and the paper's co-author.

"Now we've found organic molecules with masses above 200 atomic mass units. That's over ten times heavier than methane," said Glein.

Scientists suggested that chemical reactions between the moon's rocky core and warm water from its subsurface ocean are linked to these complex molecules.

Prior to its deorbit in September of 2017, Cassini spacecraft sampled the plume of material emerging from the subsurface of Enceladus.

The Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA) and the Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS) made measurements both within the plume and Saturn's E-ring, which is formed by plume ice grains escaping Enceladus' gravity.

Previous flybys provided evidence for a global subsurface ocean residing above a rocky core.

During Cassini's close flyby of Enceladus on October 28, 2015, INMS detected molecular hydrogen as the spacecraft flew through the plume.

Molecular hydrogen in the plume is thought to have formed by the geochemical interaction between water and rocks in hydrothermal environments, according to the study.

"Hydrogen provides a source of chemical energy supporting microbes that live in the Earth's oceans near hydrothermal vents," said Hunter Waite, INMS principal investigator and a co-author of the paper.

"Once you have identified a potential food source for microbes, the next question to ask is: what is the nature of the complex organics in the ocean? This paper represents the first step in that understanding: complexity in the organic chemistry beyond our expectations," said Waite.

TOP STORIES
EDITOR’S CHOICE
MOST VIEWED
EXPLORE XINHUANET
010020070750000000000000011100001372852101
主站蜘蛛池模板: 高安市| 松江区| 新乡市| 通州市| 石狮市| 白玉县| 阿坝县| 南康市| 仪征市| 天峻县| 德昌县| 句容市| 阿坝县| 东乡族自治县| 白城市| 深泽县| 涪陵区| 青浦区| 宣威市| 东台市| 通山县| 珲春市| 汝南县| 乌鲁木齐县| 舞钢市| 赤水市| 瑞丽市| 双柏县| 大悟县| 弥勒县| 大连市| 疏附县| 米林县| 靖江市| 榆中县| 南乐县| 锡林郭勒盟| 西吉县| 纳雍县| 高邮市| 紫金县|