Phosphurus is a fundamental part of DNA and is present in the bones of mammals, cell membranes and ocean-dwelling plankton — life could not exist without it.
Scientists have discovered phosphorous on Enceladus, the sixth largest moon of Saturn, NASA said Wednesday. The element, which is essential to planetary habitability, had never before been detected in an ocean beyond Earth., is the last piece in the puzzle, making Enceladus' ocean the only one outside of Earth known to contain all six elements needed for life — carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur.
"We previously found that Enceladus' ocean is rich in a variety of organic compounds," Frank Potsberg, a planetary scientist at the Freie Universität Berlin who led the latest study, said in a statement."But now, this new result reveals the clear chemical signature of substantial amounts of phosphorus salts inside icy particles ejected into space by the small moon's plume. It's the first time this essential element has been discovered in an ocean beyond Earth.
"Having the ingredients is necessary, but they may not be sufficient for an extraterrestrial environment to host life," said Christopher Glein, a co-author and planetary scientist at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, in a statement."Whether life could have originated in Enceladus' ocean remains an open question."
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