A new analysis of surface temperature readings from NASA’s Cassini Mission has determined that Saturn’s moon Enceladus is losing heat from both poles.

The study, conducted by researchers from Oxford University, the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), and the Planetary Science Institute (PSI), overturns previous assumptions that Enceladus was only losing heat from its active South Pole, thereby increasing the odds that the icy moon could support biological activity.

“This stability means Enceladus’ ocean could have existed for a long-term, potentially giving life a chance to have evolved,” explained the study’s lead author, Dr Georgina Miles from SwRI and Visiting Scientist at the Department of Physics, University of Oxford, and study co-author, Oxford Prof. Carly Howett, also from the PRI, in an email to The Debrief.

The research team behind the new analysis also described Enceladus as “a top contender for extra-terrestrial life,” because it has heat, liquid water, and the right chemicals, such as complex hydrocarbons and phosphorus, needed for life on Earth. The researchers also told The Debrief that future missions to Enceladus could reveal critical data about the moon’s age and the age of its subsurface ocean, which is necessary to confirm its potential habitability.