Enceladus
Source: NASA
Enceladus. Took me a few times to master the name, but I think I’ve got a firm grip on it now. It’s an icy moon- one of the brightest objects in our solar system, reflecting every bit of the light touching it.
At first glance you might think- “Blue? Water? Life?” and to that I would say a big freaking YES! Well, kind of. Part of the major inner moons of Saturn, this satellite is top four material in the search for life in our solar system (Mars, Europa, Enceladus, Titan). So much so that missions are being prepped + presented in this moment. The ELF Mission (Enceladus Life Finder... catchy, right?!) is projected to have 10 flybys, 2 instruments, and 1 question: is there life? Now, more on this spectacular moon: it’s Saturn’s 6th largest satellite, it is about as wide as the state of Arizona, and it has tiger stripes. Let me clarify on that last part: Enceladus has these extremely deep crevices/fractures that emit organic compounds. HOLY LIFE! I’m sure your first question might be “How in the heck do we know that a) there is stuff being spewed from a moon that’s 790.1 million miles away and b) what that “stuff” is made out of?” More on that in a sec. We can speculate that given Enceladus has a super slight wobble, a global ocean is a MUST. We know this because of backpedaling- so its icy shell is not solid to the core, meaning an ocean must be present, giving the moon its libation. Another trademark of Enceladus is that it has warm geysers on the South Pole, spraying plumes of ammonia, sodium, potassium, volatile gases, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide… it keeps going. Life stuff. And when I say spray, I mean these are jets!! The material shot out is projected to a distance three times the radius of the entire moon. This emission is continuous, and there is an ice-dust halo surrounding the satellite. So the spacecraft Cassini has made multiple close approaches to this moon (and the others) and while doing so, it has literally flown through all of the material being ejected into space by this moon. It “sniffed” the composition and was able to identify some key components for what we think life might be. “Life” as we know it must have three ingredients to exist: liquid water, source of energy, and the right chemical ingredients. As far as we’re concerned, Enceladus has just that!! How unbelievable. What makes us so positive that this moon is a beacon in deep space screeching “LIFE!” has a little something to do with what’s going on beneath its crust in the ocean. Like on Earth, we believe Enceladus has hydrothermal vents that are interacting with the liquid ocean, releasing molecular hydrogen. The moon can sustain liquid water because of tidal stretching, similar to what Io (of Jupiter… remember the volcano moon?) experiences. There are so many variables that go into determining whether a body has the capacity to support what we think life is. Enceladus has those variables. I love going so far to think that our generation is not only the “Mars Generation” (thanks, Elon), but also the “Moon*S* Generation.” What a diverse solar system. What a diverse universe. “Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens; who created all these?” Isiah 40:26