A research published in the journal Nature, offers new evidence that the Saturn's moon Enceladus may harbor an underground ocean of water, meaning, conditions might exist that could support life, even if only microbial organisms. Candice Hansen of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, who led the study, said, "This is more evidence that there is liquid water there. You also need energy, you need nutrients, you need organics. It looks like the pieces are there. Whether or not there's actually life, of course, we can't say."

In 2005, the Cassini spacecraft discovered humongous geysers erupting from the fissures near the south pole of Enceladus.

Ever since, scientists have argued that Enceladus (pronounced en-SELL-ah-dus), with a diameter of only 310 miles, was hiding a reservoir of liquid water. It is one of about 60 moons of the dramatic ringed planet Saturn.

However, not everyone is convinced. Dissidents hold that the vapour is not water per se, but carbon dioxide, nitrogen and methane gases released from an icy state called clathrates, with ice particles making up the rest of the mix. Furthermore, the speeds of the10 kilometers (6.2 miles) wide to a height of 15 kilometers (9.5 miles) plumes, support the hypothesis that the source is liquid water, expelled with gas 'accelerated to supersonic velocity' from nozzle-like channels. In March, US scientists said Cassini had detected temperatures at Enceladus' South Pole that were as warm as -93 degrees Celsius (-135 degrees Fahrenheit), suggesting that the sub-surface temperatures were high enough for the existence of water.