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The data gathered by Cassini in her final flybys in October (E21) and December 2015 (E22) are expected to yield some clues regarding the chemistry of the moon's ocean and prospects for some form of biochemistry. The data may not be published until December 2016, it seems....
Cassini did a final flyby of Enceladus in late October that targeted the chemistry of the plumes directly. The INMS team, which includes Glein, is searching for molecular hydrogen in that plume, which would be chemical evidence of active serpentinization. An absence of molecular hydrogen would be a sign that the serpentinization is extinct. The data analysis from this flyby may be completed in time for the American Geophysical Union's fall meeting in December. Glein added that the planned NASA mission to Europa includes advanced descendants of both the CDA and INMS instruments, meaning that in a decade or two, scientists can start to make these same measurements at Europa. This will allow us to better understand the importance of serpentinization across the Solar System.
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Text to change: On June 27, 2018, scientists reported the detection of complex macromolecular organics on Enceladus's jet plumes, as sampled by the Cassini orbiter. These indicate potential hydrothermal activity on the moon driving complex chemistry . On June 7, 2021, astronomers reported detecting substantial amounts of methane, a possible sign of microbial life, on Enceladus.
Suggested change: The Cassini orbiter performed chemical analysis of Enceladus's plumes, finding evidence for hydrothermal activity , possibly driving complex chemistry. Ongoing research on Cassini data suggests that Enceladus's hydrothermal environment could be habitable to some of Earth's hydrothermal vents microorganisms, and that plume-found methane could be produced by such organisms .
Reason for change: Affholder et al. 2021 did not find large amounts in the plume (they used quantities reported in Waite et al. 2017 for their analysis) but found that this reported amount is too large to be explained by serpentinization chemistry alone. They also find that a modeled population of Earth's hydrothermal vents microbes could explain the observed methane levels. Because this research is very recent and thus subject to scientific debate, I think caution is advised (and thus the suggested "Ongoing research...").
Reference supporting change: see references in suggested change
Disclaimer: I am Antonin Affholder, leading author of the 07 June study in Nature Astronomy and thus possibly subject to conflict of interest.
I've noticed that there is a factual conflict between this article and the 40-foot telescope article which should be resolved. This article states: "Enceladus was discovered by William Herschel on August 28, 1789, during the first use of his new 1.2 m (47 in) 40-foot telescope, ..." The 40-foot telescope article is not as definitive: "It may have been used to discover Enceladus and Mimas, the 6th and 7th moons of Saturn." Since this is a featured article and I know nothing about the topic, I don't want to make any changes, but I think two closely related articles should be factually consistent. Enjoyed reading both! Mr Serjeant Buzfuz (talk) 01:48, 28 August 2021 (UTC)
Suggested clarification
One other point that I noticed is that this article states: "The name, like the names of each of the first seven satellites of Saturn to be discovered, was suggested by William Herschel's son John Herschel in his 1847 publication Results of Astronomical Observations made at the Cape of Good Hope" Does that mean that Enceladus did not have a name for the first 50+ years after it was discovered, and wasn't named until 27 years after William Herschel's death? Or did John Herschel suggest the names earlier, and then recounted the origins in his 1847 book? I wasn't clear which was meant? Could this be clarified? Again, I don't know anything about the topic, so don't want to make any changes myself. Mr Serjeant Buzfuz (talk) 01:54, 28 August 2021 (UTC)
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Done @AAffholder: and others - updated the relevant text in the main article - *entirely* ok with me to rv/rm/mv/ce the edit of course - iac - Stay Safe and Healthy !! - Drbogdan (talk) 14:37, 12 July 2021 (UTC)