Enceladus' Water Vapor Plume

2006/03/09 by C. J. Hansen, L. W. Esposito, A. I. F. Stewart +5 · 10 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Planetary Science and Exploration #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Enceladus #Plume #Saturn #Astrobiology #Water vapor #Spectrograph #Polar #Icy moon #Spacecraft #Astronomy #Physics #Environmental science #Planet #Meteorology #Spectral line

paper · doi:10.1126/science.1121254

openalex publication_date 2006/03/09 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/02

Abstract

The Cassini spacecraft flew close to Saturn's small moon Enceladus three times in 2005. Cassini's UltraViolet Imaging Spectrograph observed stellar occultations on two flybys and confirmed the existence, composition, and regionally confined nature of a water vapor plume in the south polar region of Enceladus. This plume provides an adequate amount of water to resupply losses from Saturn's E ring and to be the dominant source of the neutral OH and atomic oxygen that fill the Saturnian system.

Citations

• Cassini Encounters Enceladus: Background and the Discovery of a South Polar Hot Spot
• A New Look at the Saturn System: The Voyager 2 Images
• Identification of a Dynamic Atmosphere at Enceladus with the Cassini Magnetometer
• Cassini Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer: Enceladus Plume Composition and Structure

Cited by

• Ion pickup and velocity space thermalization at outer planet moons
• Liquid water on Enceladus from observations of ammonia and 40Ar in the plume
• Enceladus: Present internal structure and differentiation by early and long-term radiogenic heating
• Macromolecular organic compounds from the depths of Enceladus
• An observed correlation between plume activity and tidal stresses on Enceladus
• Metasomatic clathrate xenoliths as a possible source for the south polar plumes of Enceladus
• The Enceladus and OH Tori at Saturn
• Tidal Venuses: Triggering a Climate Catastrophe via Tidal Heating
• Interpreting the densities of the Kuiper belt's dwarf planets
• Enceladus [wikipedia]