BEIJING, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) — The following is a summary of published science and technology news of China.

SOLAR OBSERVATORY

China sent a solar exploration satellite into space from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Sunday, furthering the country’s scientific endeavor to unravel the mysteries of the Sun.

The Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory (ASO-S), nicknamed Kuafu-1 in Chinese, was launched aboard a Long March-2D rocket at 07:43 a.m. (Beijing Time) and entered its planned orbit successfully.

SATURN’S MOON

Saturn’s moon Enceladus has a greater chance of habitability as its ocean may be rich in dissolved phosphorus, an important life element but previously undetected in this planet of the solar system, a new study suggests.

Enceladus, the second moon discovered around Saturn, has a thick ice shell in a subglacial ocean, forming a plume where scientists have found five basic elements of life: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and sulphur. However, the essential element phosphorus has not yet been found. A team of international researchers led by Chinese scientists, has, however, contradicted the previous findings by claiming to have discovered phosphorus in the form of phosphates in the moon’s ocean.

NEV GROWTH

The number of newly registered new energy vehicles (NEVs) in China nearly doubled year on year in the first nine months, according to statistics from the Ministry of Public Security.

From January to September 2022, 3.71 million NEVs were registered, up 98.48 percent compared with the same period last year, with NEVs accounting for 21.34 percent of all new automobile registrations.

By the end of September, China had a total of 11.49 million NEVs operating on the roads, representing 3.65 percent of the total number of automobiles.