Scientists reanalyzed data gathered during Cassini’s closest flyby of Enceladus in 2008, allowing them to gain a clearer understanding of the moon’s internal structure.

In addition to confirming the presence of known organic compounds, including precursors to amino acids — the essential building blocks of proteins and life researchers also discovered new types of organic molecules that had never been detected before.

Nozair Khawaja, a space scientist at Freie Universität Berlin and lead author of the study published in Nature Astronomy, explained:

“We found different classes of carbon-based organic molecules with diverse chemical structures and properties.” These molecules, the researchers say, could play a key role in forming more complex compounds that are crucial for sustaining life.

Khawaja added: “These molecules might trigger chemical processes leading to more complex, life-related compounds  but they could also form abiotically, without any connection to life.”

Enceladus is considered one of the most promising places in the solar system for the potential existence of extraterrestrial life. The moon, which is about 504 kilometers (313 miles) in diameter, orbits Saturn at a distance of approximately 238,000 kilometers (148,000 miles).

Experts believe Enceladus contains all the essential ingredients for life liquid water, a source of energy, and key chemical compounds. Its subsurface ocean, located beneath an ice shell 20 to 30 kilometers deep, is thought to be heated by hydrothermal activity  conditions similar to those that may have supported the emergence of life on Earth.