Team led by Pakistani scientist discovers signs of life on Saturn moon

By Suhail Yusuf Published: October 2, 2019PHOTO: EXPRESSKARACHI: Pakistani astrobiologist Dr Nozair Khawaja and his team have discovered a key organic molecule on Enceladus – one of the 62 moons orbiting the planet Saturn.Enceladus is about 500 kilometres in diameter.Experts have termed the discovery to be the first of its kind beyond Earth, making Enceladus eligible to be in the list of the most notable candidates for having extra-terrestrial life.Dr Khawaja, a researcher at the Freie Universität Berlin, is leading a team of scientists from the United States (US) and Germany.Khawaja’s team was conducting research on data gathered from the moon’s hydrothermal core – earlier gathered by National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Cassini spacecraft.Speaking to, Dr Khawaja said: “I have found small but soluble and reactive organic compound pluming from the depths [ocean] of Enceladus. The compound from the ocean of Enceladus is already a known ingredient of amino acids found in the oceans of Earth.”PHOTO: EXPRESSAlthough NASA’s Cassini spacecraft – launched in 1997 – completed its research mission in 2017, scientists have yet to study all the research material gathered during the spacecraft’s vital mission.“With each passing day, Enceladus is becoming one of the most habitable potential objects in the solar system to study traces of life after Earth. The next logical step should be to explore the Cassini space probe data and find more bio-signatures in the subsurface ocean of Enceladus. More space missions should be proposed and planned to explore this tiny world which is full of surprises,” said the Pakistani astrobiologist.Amino acids are the organic compounds known as the building blocks of life for almost every creature on Earth. Various types of amino acids play major roles in protein making, metabolism, synthesis in hormones and neurotransmitters from the brain to across the human body.The organic molecule, found by Dr Khawaja and his team, is composed of oxygen and nitrogen and has been enveloped in ice grain. It can easily be dubbed as a precursor of amino acid.Enceladus’s ocean is covered with an ice sheet, similar to Earth’s icy poles. The ice grains and the vapours that are ejected from this ocean through hydrothermal activity are released in space from small cracks on the moon’s surface.On Earth, such events have been witnessed at vents or hot chimneys on the ocean floor. The hydrothermal vents on Earth eject many vital molecules and compounds vital for life. Enceladus may also hold the same mechanism as it spews essential molecules, a phenomenon recorded by the NASA and confirmed by scientists.In 2018, Dr Khawaja had also observed a relatively large compound from Enceladus.Dr Khawaja was born in Wazirabad – a city located in Gujranwala district of Punjab. He completed his Masters in Astronomy and Space Sciences from Punjab University. Later, the Pakistani scientist acquired a PhD in Geosciences from Heidelberg University in Germany. He has also worked as a post-doctorate scholar at the Institute of Earth Sciences at the same German university.Pakistani astrobiologist Dr Nozair Khawaja. PHOTO: EXPRESSHe has done a comprehensive study on life beyond Earth and is a leading name in many research programmes.In 2019, NASA had honoured Dr Khawaja with the ‘Group Achievement Award’ for Cassini’s Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA). He is also a recipient of the Horneck-Brack Award from the European Astrobiology Network Association in 2018.His work has appeared in highly cited peer-reviewed scientific journals such as Nature, research journals and the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society and Science.Dr Khawaja’s latest research around the key organic molecule on Enceladus has also found a place in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS).Read more: Latest