Icy Tendrils Reaching into Saturn Ring Traced to Their Source

NASA | APRIL 16, 2015

Long, sinuous, tendril-like structures seen in the vicinity of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus originate directly from geysers erupting from its surface, according to scientists studying images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft.

Cassini images of long, sinuous, tendril-like features from Saturn's moon Enceladus. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Each unique tendril structure can be reproduced by particular sets of geysers on the moon's surface. The geysers, which were discovered by Cassini in 2005, are jets of tiny water ice particles, water vapor and simple organic compounds.

Under certain lighting conditions, Cassini's wide-view images showing icy material erupting from Enceladus reveal faint, finger-like features, dubbed "tendrils" by the imaging team. The tendrils reach into Saturn's E ring -- the ring in which Enceladus orbits -- extending tens of thousands of miles (or kilometers) away from the moon.

The tendrils are composed of particles with diameters no smaller than about a hundred thousandth of an inch, a size consistent with the measurements of E-ring particles. They give a way to ascertain how much mass is leaving Enceladus and making its way into Saturn orbit. another important step is to determine how much mass is involved, and thus estimate how much longer the moon's sub-surface ocean may last.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

NASA Voyager 2 Could Be Nearing Interstellar Space

NASA's Voyager 2 probe, currently on a journey toward interstellar space, has detected an increase in cosmic rays that originate outside our solar system.

All we are is dust in the interstellar wind

Some researchers are delving deep down to see how dust comes together at the atomic level, while others are looking at the big picture to see where stars and planets might be forming in dusty stellar nurseries.

Cassini Prepares for Last Up-close Look at Hyperion

NASA's Cassini spacecraft will make its final close approach to Saturn's large, irregularly shaped moon Hyperion on Sunday, May 31.

Helium-Shrouded Planets May Be Common in Our Galaxy

Researchers using data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope propose that warm Neptune-size planets with clouds of helium may be strewn about the galaxy by the thousands.

NASA InSight Lander Arrives on Martian Surface

Mars has received its newest robotic resident. NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport lander successfully touched down on the Red Planet after an almost seven-month, 300-million-mile journey from Earth.

NASA Spacecraft Detects Impact Glass on Surface of Mars

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has detected deposits of glass within impact craters on Mars. Though formed in the searing heat of a violent impact, such deposits might provide a delicate window into the possibility of past life on the Red Planet.