Scientists just found the most basic ingredients for life bursting from an ocean on Saturn's moon Enceladus. A new analysis of NASA data reveals the presence of organic compounds in the plumes of liquid water that shoot into space from the ocean below Enceladus's icy crust. These compounds, which carry nitrogen and oxygen, play a key role in producing amino acids ⁠- complex molecules that serve as the building blocks of proteins. Without proteins, life as we know it on Earth couldn't exist.

Scientists have long suspected that the ocean below Enceladus's surface could harbour the ingredients for life. Researchers had detected other organic molecules coming from the icy moon before, but this is the first time anyone has detected them dissolved in the water.

That's critical, since it means the compounds could undergo deep-sea chemical reactions that produce amino acids.

These findings were published Wednesday in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

"This work shows that Enceladus' ocean has reactive building blocks in abundance, and it's another green light in the investigation of the habitability of Enceladus," Frank Postberg, a co-author of the study, said in a press release.

In deep-sea vents, these compounds could create life

On Enceladus, jets of ocean water and ice regularly shoot out into space through warm cracks in the moon's crust.

The NASA scientists behind the new study analysed data on the chemical composition of those plumes, and found several new organic compounds, some containing nitrogen and some containing oxygen.

These compounds were dissolved in the ocean water below Enceladus's surface. They then evaporated with the surface water, condensed, and froze into the moon's icy crust, according to the study. The plumes blew the compounds into space, where NASA's Cassini spacecraft sensed them as it flew nearby.

The compounds are yet another sign that Enceladus might have its own version of a process that creates life on Earth.

Deep in Earth's oceans, seawater mixes with magma that bubbles up through cracks in the ocean floor. That interaction produces smoky hydrothermal vents that can get as hot as 700 degrees Fahrenheit (370 degrees Celsius).

The vents spew hydrogen-rich hot water, fuelling chemical reactions that transform organic compounds into amino acids. Those amino acids can then stack onto each other like Legos to form proteins, which are crucial for replicating the genetic information that creates life.

This process allows life to develop without the assistance of sunlight. That's important because Enceladus's ice surface is highly reflective and sends what little sunlight the moon receives back into space. Any life there would have to develop in the dark.