Saturn

Ever since I watched the movie ET in about 3rd grade, I’ve always wondered if life outside our planet existed. Whenever I think about it, I realize that it must exist since the universe is so huge. The most recent article I read out of Discover magazine covered this topic. Research done by NASA shows that life could not only exist in the Habitable Zone as it is called but also in areas once deemed the uninhabitable due to their size, distance from the sun, or other factors. The Habitable Zone, according to Discover magazine, is an area of space that is most hospitable for life. It must contain liquid water, organic molecules, and a source of energy.

Scientists are realizing that it is possible there is life outside the Habitable Zone. Several possibilities of this lie on Saturn’s moons. Two of these moons, Enceladus and Titan have been studied closely by NASA for a while now. While studying this, they discovered that cryovolcanoes were emitting water vapor and ice. This shows evidence that there could possibly be liquid under the surface of these moons. It was also discovered that methane circles Titan much like water circles the Earth. By studying this process on Saturn, scientists might be able to better understand how similar processes on Earth work. This studying has been done through Cassini, a spacecraft that landed on Saturn and brought with it a landing probe which then when to the moon Titan. The article I read is pretty long and goes into further details which explain much more evidence they found to support life on this distant planet or even its moons. Click here to read the article online.