Carolyn Porco: Could a Saturn moon harbor life?

Translator: Matej Divjak Reviewer: Klavdija Cernilogar

Two years ago here at TED

Pred dvema letoma sem tukaj na TED

I reported that we had discovered

poročala, da smo pri Saturnu

at Saturn, with the Cassini Spacecraft,

z vesoljskim plovilom Cassini odkrili

an anomalously warm and geologically active region

nenavadno toplo in geološko aktivno področje

at the southern tip of the small Saturnine moon

na južnem koncu majhne Saturnove lune

Enceladus, seen here.

Enceladus, ki jo vidimo tukaj.

This region seen here for the first time

To področje je tukaj prvič vidno

in the Cassini image taken in 2005. This is the south polar region,

na fotografiji, ki jo je Cassini posnel leta 2005. To je južno polarno območje.

with the famous tiger-stripe fractures crossing the south pole.

S slavnimi razpokami v obliki tigrovih prog, ki prečijo južni pol.

And seen just recently in late 2008,

In kot smo videli ravno pred kratkim, konec 2008,

here is that region again,

je tu ponovno to področje,

now half in darkness because the southern hemisphere

sedaj na pol v temi, ker bo na južni polobli

is experiencing the onset of August

nastopil avgust,

and eventually winter.

ki mu bo sledila zima.

And I also reported that we'd made this mind-blowing discovery --

Poročala sem tudi, da smo prišli do osupljivega odkritja --

this once-in-a-lifetime discovery

tega enkrat-v-življenju odkritja

of towering jets

vzpenjajočih se curkov,

erupting from those fractures at the south pole,

ki so izbruhnili iz tistih razpok na južnem polu

consisting of tiny water ice crystals

in sestojijo iz majcenih vodnih ledenih kristalov,

accompanied by water vapor

ki jih spremljajo vodni hlapi

and simple organic compounds like carbon dioxide and methane.

in preproste organske spojine, kot sta ogljikov dioksid in metan.

And at that time two years ago

In takrat, pred dvema letoma,

I mentioned that we were speculating

sem omenila, da domnevamo,

that these jets might in fact be geysers,

da so ti curki morda v resnici gejzirji,

and erupting from pockets

ki bruhajo iz žepov

or chambers of liquid water underneath the surface,

ali komor tekoče vode pod površjem.

but we weren't really sure.

Vendar nismo bili prepričani.

However, the implications of those results --

Vendar pa so nakazovanja teh rezultatov

of a possible environment within this moon

na možnost okolja znotraj te lune,

that could support prebiotic chemistry,

ki bi lahko omogočalo prebiotično kemijo

and perhaps life itself --

in mogoče življenje sámo,

were so exciting that, in the intervening two years,

bila tako razburljiva, da smo se v vmesnih dveh letih

we have focused more on Enceladus.

bolj osredotočili na Enceladus.

We've flown the Cassini Spacecraft

Vesoljsko plovilo Cassini je sedaj

by this moon now several times,

že večkrat poletelo mimo te lune.

flying closer and deeper into these jets,

Letelo je bližje in globlje v te curke,

into the denser regions of these jets,

v gostejša področja teh curkov,

so that now we have come away with some

tako da smo zdaj dobili nekaj

very precise compositional measurements.

zelo natančnih meritev sestave.

And we have found

In odkrili smo,

that the organic compounds coming from this moon

da so organske spojine s te lune

are in fact more complex than we previously reported.

v resnici bolj kompleksne, kot smo prej poročali.

While they're not amino acids,

Čeprav niso aminokisline,

we're now finding things like

sedaj odkrivamo stvari, kot so

propane and benzene,

propan in benzen,

hydrogen cyanide, and formaldehyde.

cianovodikovo kislino in formaldehid.

And the tiny water crystals here

In tile majceni vodni kristali

now look for all the world

sedaj izgledajo čisto tako,

like they are frozen droplets of salty water,

kot da so zmrznjene kapljice slane vode.

which is a discovery that suggests

Kar je odkritje, ki kaže,

that not only do the jets come from

da ne le, da curki prihajajo iz

pockets of liquid water,

žepov tekoče vode,

but that that liquid water is in contact with rock.

temveč, da je tista tekoča voda v stiku s kamnino.

And that is a circumstance

In to je okoliščina,

that could supply the chemical energy

ki bi lahko nudila kemično energijo

and the chemical compounds needed to sustain life.

in kemične spojine potrebne za vzdrževanje življenja.

So we are very encouraged by these results.

Ti rezultati so nas zelo opogumili.

And we are much more confident now than we were two years ago

Sedaj smo veliko bolj prepričani kot pred dvema letoma,

that we might indeed

da bi na tej luni,

have on this moon, under the south pole,

pod južnim polom, zares lahko imeli

an environment or a zone that is hospitable to living organisms.

okolje ali predel, ki je prijazen do živih organizmov.

Whether or not there are living organisms there, of course,

Če so ali niso tam živi organizmi, je seveda

is an entirely different matter.

popolnoma druga stvar.

And that will have to await the arrival,

In to bo moralo počakati na prihod

back at Enceladus,

vesoljskih plovil nazaj na Enceladus,

of the spacecrafts, hopefully some time in the near future,

upamo, da v bližnji prihodnosti,

specifically equipped to address that particular question.

ki bodo opremljena posebej za naslavljanje tega vprašanja.

But in the meantime I invite you to imagine the day

Medtem pa vas vabim, da si predstavljate dan,

when we might journey to the Saturnine system,

ko bomo lahko potovali v Saturnov sistem

and visit the Enceladus interplanetary geyser park,

in obiskali medplanetarni park gejzirjev na Enceladusu,

just because we can.

samo zato, ker bomo lahko.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(aplavz)