spacetoday.net: Hydrocarbons found on Saturn moon

Hydrocarbons found on Saturn moon

Posted: Wed, Jul 11, 2007, 8:02 AM ET (1202 GMT)
Hyperion composition map (NASA/JPL)

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has detected the presence of hydrocarbons on the surface of Saturn's moon Hyperion, suggesting that these building blocks of life may be commonplace in the solar system. In a paper published in the journal Nature last week, scientists reported that carbon dioxide ice appeared mix with water ice on the moon's surface and appeared to be chemically bonded to each other in some way. The discovery is not evidence of life in any form, but does indicate that the basic building blocks of life are more common in the solar system. Other studies of the irregularly-shaped moon found that it is rather porous, with up to 42 percent of its volume empty space.