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Colloquium – Christopher Glein – The Enceladus-Exoplanet Connection: How Molecular Hydrogen on Ocean Worlds Could Support Life
September 6 @ 3:45 pm - 5:00 pm
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Speaker: Christopher Glein (Southwest Research Institute)
Title: The Enceladus-Exoplanet Connection: How Molecular Hydrogen on Ocean Worlds Could Support Life
Abstract:
Saturn’s moon Enceladus has a subsurface ocean that erupts into space, forming a plume. We sampled the plume using the Cassini spacecraft and found that it contains materials that can fuel methane formation, namely CO2 and H2. Methane was also found. The amount of H2 is far above the equilibrium abundance, indicating a source of chemical energy. This is the first time that evidence was found of a source of chemical energy from an extraterrestrial ocean. More recently, the James Webb Space Telescope detected CO2, H2, and CH4 in the atmosphere of the sub-Neptune exoplanet K2-18 b. It was proposed that this temperate planet might have a liquid water ocean. If it does, I have found that methanogenesis would be favorable to drive metabolism there. This may represent the identification of a source of chemical energy far beyond our cosmic shoreline. These findings suggest the arrival of a new strategy in the search for habitable environments – follow the energy after water!
Host: Patrick R. LeClair