The Cassini spacecraft detected a variety of organic chemicals and water vapour when it flew through the giant geysers erupting from the surface of one of Saturn's moons earlier this month.
Cassini has found the geysers on Saturn\'s moon Enceladus contains water vapour and traces of methane and simple organic compounds. Pic: Artists impression of the Cassini spacecraft. Credit: NASA
Cassini took samples from the mighty eruptions on Enceladus which scientists described as being comet-like in their intensity.
"A completely unexpected surprise is that the chemistry of Enceladus, what's coming out from inside, resembles that of a comet," said Hunter Waite, principal investigator for the Cassini Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio.
"To have primordial material coming out from inside a Saturn moon raises many questions on the formation of the Saturn system."
"Enceladus is by no means a comet. Comets have tails and orbit the sun, and Enceladus' activity is powered by internal heat while comet activity is powered by sunlight. Enceladus' brew is like carbonated water with an essence of natural gas," said Waite in a statement on the NASA website.
Cassini's close flyby of Enceladus took it to within 30 miles of the moon at its closest point. It continued flying through the geysers at 32,000 mph and an altitude of 120 miles.
The jet plumes were found to have consisted mostly of water vapour though traces of methane and other simple organic compounds were also discovered.
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