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I'm Clara Moskowitz.

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Enceladus.

It's one of Saturn's moons.

It's one of the strangest places in the solar system. It's also one of the most

likely places to host extraterrestrial life. Powerful plumes of water vapor erupt from its poles,

which proves that a liquid water ocean lies hidden beneath

its icy surface. And a new analysis suggests that this buried ocean has striking similarities

to the deep oceans here on Earth, at least when it comes to

methane. The study is in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

NASA's Cassini spacecraft in orbit around Saturn recently spotted a surprising amount of methane in the geysers.

The simple hydrocarbon compound was expected to exist on Enceladus,

but to mostly stay trapped in the Moon's underground ocean by the high pressure there.

The abundance of methane in Enceladus's plumes, however, means that the Moon might

actively produce more methane than had been thought.

One explanation for the methane levels is that the compound

forms through geological processes at the boundary where Enceladus's core meets the

water. The same thing happens in Earth's hydrothermal vents, a hot spot for life.

Another explanation is that methane locked in primordial ice gets released as the ice melts

into the underground ocean.

Either way, Enceladus keeps getting more interesting.

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