Read more: Methane wafting from 'tiger stripes' on Saturn moon could be sign of alien life, study suggests 5.
The team found that methane-farting microbes could indeed be contributing to the planet's gassy geysers - meaning life can't be ruled out on the icy moon.
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In the new study, researchers ran a series of models to determine whether those compounds could be evidence of microbes that "eat" dihydrogen and produce methane as waste. That material is thought to come from a huge ocean of liquid water that sloshes beneath the moon's icy shell - but it wasn't just water the orbiter found numerous other compounds, including dihydrogen (H2) and a variety of carbon-containing organic compounds, including methane (CH4), also appeared in the geysers. In 2005, NASA's Cassini Saturn orbiter discovered geysers blasting particles of water ice into space from "tiger stripe" fractures near Enceladus' south pole. The methane wafting from Enceladus, Saturn's sixth largest moon, may be a sign that life teems in the moon's subsurface sea, a June study found. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech) (opens in new tab) One of Saturn's moon still holds potential for life Read more: Alien life could thrive on big 'Hycean' exoplanets 4. Both could potentially host itty-bitty life beneath their waves, the authors wrote, meaning there may be a whole new avenue of exploration for alien planet hunters. Not only are these planets abundant in the Milky Way galaxy, but they are also incredibly diverse, some orbiting very close to their host star, others orbiting far away.
"Hycean" planets, which are up to 2.5 times larger than Earth and sport huge oceans of liquid water beneath hydrogen-rich atmospheres, could be the ideal spot for microbial life similar to the "extremophiles" that thrive in some of Earth's harshest environments (such as hydrothermal vents), the study authors said. Typically, the search for alien life begins with the search for Earth-like planets - but there may be another class of alien world that is just as conducive to life, a study published in the Astrophysical Journal in August contends. (Image credit: Amanda Smith, Nikku Madhusudhan ) (opens in new tab) The researchers are currently developing algorithms to search through existing telescope data in search of those telltale signatures. That re-radiated energy would create a distinct wavelength signature that astronomers could detect from Earth, the study authors suggested. To do this, aliens could use high-tech structures called Dyson spheres (giant, energy-siphoning orbs first proposed in the 1960s) to steal energy from the disc of white-hot matter swirling around a black hole's horizon, then radiate that energy outward into space. Because black holes can radiate up to 100,000 times more energy than a star like our sun, they may make tempting targets for alien civilizations looking to power their interstellar enterprises, the study authors wrote. While alien hunters spend plenty of time searching for habitable planets beyond our solar system, a study published in July in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society warns that scientists shouldn't overlook nature's most extreme objects: Black holes. (Image credit: Marc Ward/Stocktrek Images/Getty) (opens in new tab)
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