The Salty Ocean Of Enceladus

By David Bradley2009-11-01T00:00:00

Source: NASA

European scientists discover that the giant plume of water emitted from Saturn's largest moon is fed by a salty ocean

In 2005 the Cassini spacecraft made the surprising discovery that Saturn's sixth largest moon, Enceladus, ejects an enormous plume of water into space from its south pole. The plume is hundreds of kilometres high and contains water vapour, gas, and tiny grains of ice. However, the exact nature of its source remained a mystery.

A team of European researchers now has evidence that this giant plume is fed by a salty ocean.¹ The discovery could have implications for our understanding of how moons are formed.

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