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On Saturn's moon Enceladus, scientists have found the rarest of six elements upon which life as we know it depends - phosphorus.
While reviewing data from the Cassini spacecraft, they found evidence in water geysers blasting through the icy crust.
These powerful jets shoot 79 gallons per second. Most of the material falls back down as snow, but some of it feeds Saturn's E ring, a halo of tiny ice particles.
The oceans are now known to contain all the necessary ingredients: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur, and oxygen. Phosphorus is important in forming a skeleton for DNA molecules while also helping to maintain and repair cell membranes.
The findings suggest concentrations 500 times higher than the highest known amount in Earth's oceans.
"It is just a habitability indicator, and a very good and important one, " says Frank Postberg, team lead.
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