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Phosphate, an ‘essential material for life’ found only on Earth, came from Saturn’s moon

<토성의 달 ‘엔켈라두스’ 상상도. 사진=미 항공우주국(NASA)>

Phosphate, a key part of life, has been discovered on Saturn’s icy moon ‘Enceladus’ and is attracting attention.

An international research team led by Professor Frank Postwerk at the Free University of Berlin in Germany published an article in the scientific journal Nature on the 14th (local time) using observational data from NASA’s Saturn probe Cassini, “Enceladus. “Phosphate, an essential building block for life, found in ice grains ejected from Earth.”

Enceladus, one of over 100 moons orbiting Saturn. It is a small satellite with a diameter of 505 km and about the size of England, but scientists began to observe and pay attention to the eruption of a water column in 2005 from the south pole of the satellite.

The surface of Enceladus is covered in ice, and it is estimated that there is a sea with a depth of 10 km 40 km underground between the lower and central rock layers. There are cracks in the Antarctic ice sheet, where water droplets and chunks of ocean ice are thrown into space.

'Phosphate' found in Enceladus.  Photo = Cassini Imaging Team / SSI / JPL / SWRI / Free University of Berlin.
<엔켈라두스에서 ‘인산염’이 발견됐다. 사진=카시니이미징팀/SSI/JPL/ SWRI/베를린 자유 대학교.>

Through previous studies, organic compounds including abundant minerals and amino acids associated with life were found in these ice grains, but phosphorus, an essential substance for all life on Earth, was not found. Phosphorus is part of DNA and RNA, energy carriers, cell walls, and bones and teeth.

However, through this study, phosphorus, an essential element for life, was confirmed in the form of phosphate. In particular, it is estimated to be at least 100 times higher than Earth’s ocean, raising the possibility of extraterrestrial life.

Dr. Christopher Glein of the Southwest Research Institute (SWRI), a co-researcher, said, “As a result of the 2020 geochemical model experiment, it was estimated that there would be a lot of phosphorus in the Enceladus sea. “The actual discovery of evidence of phosphate predicted by model experiments is very exciting and represents an important step forward in astrobiology and the search for extraterrestrial life,” he said.

“The high phosphate concentration in Enceladus’ sea appears to result from the high solubility of phosphate minerals in the sea,” he said. “This result means that Enceladus’ sea meets the strict requirements for the existence of life. is there an ocean where life can actually exist.”

Electronic Newspaper Internet Reporter Here Hee-win shw@etnews.com