Europlanet Webinar: Cassini Detects Organic Compounds in the Fresh Plume of Enceladus
In this image from Cassini, backlighting from the Sun spectacularly illuminates Enceladus’ jets of water ice. NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI
5 November 2025 at 11:00 CET (10:00 UTC)
Speaker: Thomas O’Sullivan, FU Berlin
We discuss the latest detection of organic molecules in ice grains from Enceladus, that were sampled by the Cassini spacecraft just minutes after their ejection into the plume. These pristine grains reveal evidence of diverse, aqueous, chemistry and could form part of larger chemical cycles beneath the icy crust, enhancing the likelihood that the small moon is habitable, and driving the need for future missions.
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Astrobiology
