Earth and Planetary Sciences News
Phosphorus, a key chemical element for many biological processes, has been found in icy grains emitted by the small moon and is likely abundant in its subsurface ocean.
Using data collected by NASA's Cassini mission, an international team of scientists [including Tokyo Tech Earth-Life Science Institute researchers Yasuhito Sekine, Kento Furuya and Shuya Tan] has discovered phosphorus – an essential chemical element for life – locked inside salt-rich ice grains ejected into space from Enceladus.