News Planetary Science

Gassy Geysers: Cassini surveys Saturn’s moon

By Rachel Ehrenberg

- More than 2 years ago

Data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft raise new questions about the origin of Saturn’s tiny moon Enceladus and the heat driving its plume of ice and water vapor.

HOT STRIPES. Cassini’s instruments caught heat (orange and yellow) radiating from along the entire lengths of the 150-km fractures in Enceladus’ south polar region. JPL, GSFC/NASA, SWRI, SSi

Cassini lived to tell the tale of its March 12 brush with the enormous plume of ice, water vapor, and gas spewing from several fissures near the south pole of the moon.