Lee Billings reports that the Saturn icy moon Enceladus has a surprisingly warm inner world. Constructed from Cassini images, an enhanced-color mosaic reveals the icy surface of the Saturn moon Enceladus. The blue-tinted fissures are the sites of water vapor plumes from the icy subsurface ocean. NASA Scientists using data from the NASA Cassini orbiter have found evidence of active hydrothermal vents gushing from the interior of the Saturn moon Enceladus, increasing the odds that alien life could await discovery in the watery depths of that icy world. The Enceladus hydrothermal vents appear remarkably similar to some vents found on Earth.
One of the leading theories for the origin of life on Earth postulates that it began in hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean, where seawater percolating through hot rocks created energy- and nutrient-rich environments favoring the formation of the first cells. Today, Earth active hydrothermal vents are seafloor oases, harboring ecosystems that flourish in the darkness, isolated from the surface world. Find someplace else beyond Earth where hot rock and water intermingle, and even if it is far from the sun, life might flourish there too. Such systems may have been common early in the solar system history, when rocky planets and icy moons were still relatively hot and wet from their initial formation. But until now scientists had no evidence of ongoing hydrothermal activity anywhere beyond Earth.
Original working URL: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/first-active-hydrothermal-system-found-beyond-earth/?WT.mc_id=SA_SPC_20150312
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